Prescribing Drugs for the Aged and Dying

Abstract

In the treatment of the aged and dying, decisions about drugs tend to be overshadowed by questions about the general goals of care for terminal patients and by more dramatic issues such as the use of resuscitation, feeding tubes, and respirators. Yet prescribing drugs is almost always an essential part of total patient care and is thus worthy of special comment. Drugs are often vital to preserving life and controlling pain. Perhaps they may even provide a proper means of ending life. This latter possibility becomes a matter of serious ethical debate as more patients resort to drastic measures to ensure an ending to their lives—such as storing and hiding pills for later use, pulling out respirator tubes, and using firearms.