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Ethical and Legal Dilemmas in Accessing Critical Care Services

  • Conference paper
Intensive Care Medicine

  • 943 Accesses

Abstract

There is a growing need for critical care services, with increasing demands due to demographic trends, technological advances, growing costs of standard care, unexpected surges in demand, and public expectations. With the practice of critical care medicine evolving so rapidly due to the ability to sustain lives indefinitely, patients are living longer in the intensive care unit (ICU). As a result, patients and caregivers are faced with difficult decisions, often based on differing opinions on the appropriate use of newly emerging, potentially life-sustaining, yet expensive interventions. When conflicting views are held, their resolution can place undue strain on families and caregivers. To help deal with these situations, some institutions have developed guidelines and policies to reflect best standards to help guide difficult decisions about limits to treatment. However, there is no consensus on the use of such guidelines and their application in practice.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Policy Analyst — Critical Care Strategy, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, 585 University Avenue NCSB 11C-1165, Toronto, ON, M5G 2N2, Canada

    N. M. Danjoux

  2. Critical Care Department, Toronto General Hospital, 585 University Avenue NCSB 11C-1176, Toronto, ON, M5G 2N2, Canada

    L. Hawryluck

Authors
  1. N. M. Danjoux
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  2. L. Hawryluck
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Intensive Care Erasme Hospital, Free University of Brussels, Route de Lennik 808, 1070, Brussels, Belgium

    Jean-Louis Vincent MD, PhD, FCCM, FCCP (Head) (Head)

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© 2007 Springer Science + Business Media Inc.

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Danjoux, N.M., Hawryluck, L. (2007). Ethical and Legal Dilemmas in Accessing Critical Care Services. In: Vincent, JL. (eds) Intensive Care Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-49518-7_87

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-49518-7_87

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-387-49517-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-387-49518-7

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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