Virtual Mentor. September 2006, Volume 8, Number 09

Ethics Poll

Doing what's best at the end of life

The Ethics Poll is a snapshot of the opinions of interested readers.

1. How much do you know about hospice?
I have never heard of it.
I've heard of it but do not know much about it.
I have a lay person's understanding of hospice and how it works.
I have direct personal or professional experience with hospice.

2. A primary care physician has an ethical responsibility to solicit information about a patient's emotional, psychological and spiritual well-being and to acknowledge and attempt to treat suffering from these spheres that often accompanies physical illness.
Agree.
Disagree.

3. CPR has been widely misused to restart the hearts of terminally ill patients who do not survive their underlying illness long enough to leave the hospital after CPR.
It is unethical for physicians to perform CPR on patients such as these when the intervention is not expected to improve or palliate the disease(s) from which they are dying.
It is unethical not to perform CPR on patients such as these, despite physician consensus that it will not improve or palliate the disease(s) from which they are dying.

View results
Poll results reflect the opinions of visitors to the site who voluntarily answer the poll questions. Those visitors do not represent a random sample of Virtual Mentor readers. The viewpoints expressed on this site are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the AMA.