Elderly dying with dignity - Sydney doctors trial plan to help patients decide

[Chip (OP)]

source: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/elderly-dying-with-dignity-sydney-doctors-trial-plan-to-help-patients-decide/news-story/8b0f20b97e300594805f7b1883a68020

ed.: finally, getting closer to euthanasia and making sense.

Elderly dying with dignity: Sydney doctors trial plan to help patients decide

ELDERLY patients suffering chronic illnesses will be told when they can expect to die so they can avoid pointless treatments and long hospital stays.

Many older people spend their final days undergoing procedures such as chemotherapy, X-rays and blood tests that do little more than make this time painful and lonely.

Professor of Intensive Care at the University of NSW Ken Hillman, a leading authority on intensive care, has developed a way to estimate whether a patient is at high, moderate or low risk of dying in the months after diagnosis, based on medical history.

The intervention model, which will be introduced at Liverpool Hospital next year subject to funding and ethics approval, will give doctors the confidence to be honest about death and provide patients the information they need to make choices about end-of-life care.

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