The New York Times published a lengthy article Sunday on palliative sedation, the practice where patients near the end of life are given medications at a level that causes sedation, in order to relieve their pain and distress. The article follows the stories of a few patients, their families, and their doctors as they consider this end-of-life care option. The article includes a slideshow and has received numerous comments on the NYT website.
The About.com Palliative Care blog has also posted information about this article, along with general information on palliative sedation. The Health Culture blog includes some older articles on the subject as well. The Pallimed blog covered a piece that appeared in the September issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine that included several article responses.
UPDATE 12/31/09:
Drew Rosielle at the Pallimed blog weighs in on the NYT article. NHPCO (National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization) also released comments.
