Limitation of the therapeutic effort: ethical and legal justification for withholding and/or withdrawing life sustaining treatments

Abstract

Withholding and withdrawing a treatment already established are two forms of limitation of the therapeutic effort (LTE). The question of undergoing or not undergoing lifesaving medical treatments is not restricted to a specific health care context, as it refers to a variety of treatments, and it does not concern a restricted group of diseases. LTE has become part of the options compatible with the good clinical practice, in accordance with a deep change in modern medicine’s ‘mission’ along with the increased importance attributed to the patient’s general, personal condition, and to the quality of his/her life. However, LTE remains a controversial issue, and it still has many opponents, in particular, but not exclusively, in those cases in which the question is the withdrawal of treatments, which a widespread conventional wisdom considers ethically and legally different from not initiating treatments. But is it justified to address LTE as a totally controversial issue, especially in case of withdrawal of treatments? The paper answers negatively by arguing that there are criteria both in medical ethics and in law often adequate enough to remove doubts, and to guide decisions and actions.