A scandal is breaking out in England over revelations that the National Health Service has been implementing a policy of routinely–and apparently without consulting either the patient or the family–cutting off intravenous food and fluids for patients deemed to be close to death, instead just pumping them up with sedative drugs until they die. From the London Telegraph, Sentenced to death on the NHS:
Under NHS guidance introduced across England to help doctors and medical staff deal with dying patients, they can then have fluid and drugs withdrawn and many are put on continuous sedation until they pass away.
But this approach can also mask the signs that their condition is improving, the experts warn.
As a result the scheme is causing a “national crisis” in patient care, the letter [from concerned physicians] states. . . .