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The Use of Palliative Sedation for Terminally Ill Patients: Review of the Literature and an Argumentative Essay

Mohammad M. Khader and Majd T. Mrayyan

Palliative sedation for terminally ill patients, with a life expectancy of less than two weeks to control patients’ intolerable pain and symptoms, is an intervention that raises many legal and ethical controversial issues. The purpose of this paper is to write an argumentative essay to support the use of palliative sedation for terminally ill patients, taking into consideration the legal and ethical points of view of opponents and proponents. Although it is illegal in some countries such as France, Jordan and New-Zealand, palliative sedation for terminally ill patients is legally sound for other countries such as USA, Canada, Sweden, Belgium, and Netherlands. Ethically, opponents consider palliative sedation for terminally ill patients as a misleading concept as it hastens death and negatively influences patients’ family members, and it may be misused by health team members. Whereas, proponents debate that palliative sedation is a multidisciplinary intervention that should be considered as a last resort for terminally ill patients with the main intention of relieving patients’ agony and having no effect on patients’ survival; moreover, it positively influences patients’ family members. The author is encouraged to support the use of palliative sedation as it is a multidisciplinary judgement which guarantees that any decision made is built on the latest evidence-based guidelines and is ethically accepted according to the principles of beneficence, autonomy, and doctrine of double effect. Additionally, it is the last and only intervention to alleviate patients’ suffering without affecting patients’ survival, thus causing family members to accept the use of palliative sedation for their loved ones.