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Previous Volume 328:506-509 February 18, 1993 Number 7 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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Some patients with cervical spinal cord injuries ask to die. It is generally held that a competent, informed adult has the right to forgo medical treatment, even life-sustaining therapy¹. Furthermore, respect for patients' autonomy is not only a fundamental ethical principle, but is also sanctioned by law^2,3. In particular, there are a number of published accounts of patients with high-level cervical injuries who have been granted permission by the courts to discontinue life support^4,5,6,7,8. In all these cases, the patients were beyond the acute phase of their injury when they made their decisions.

In this article, we . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Establishing Competency

Informed Consent or Refusal

Biases and Agendas of Decision Makers

The Timing of Decision Making

References

Related Letters:

Life Support for Patients with Cervical-Level Quadriplegia
Ross L. F., Johnson D. H., Bennahum D., Lehman L. B., Flaherty D. I., Conwill D. E., Sorey W. H., Herrin V. E., Patterson D. R., McCormick T. R., Hudson L. D.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1993; 329:663-664, Aug 26, 1993. Correspondence

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