Rev Infect Dis. 1987 Nov-Dec;9(6):1163-7. doi: 10.1093/clinids/9.6.1163.

Ethical dilemmas about intensive care for patients with AIDS.

Reviews of infectious diseases

B Lo, T A Raffin, N H Cohen, R M Wachter, J M Luce, P C Hopewell

PMID: 3321365 DOI: 10.1093/clinids/9.6.1163

Abstract

AIDS presents ethical dilemmas about intensive care. Even with intensive care the outcome for patients with AIDS is poor. Care givers have no ethical or medical obligation to provide futile care. Decisions concerning competent patients should be made jointly by physicians and the informed patients themselves. For incompetent patients decisions should be made jointly by physicians and appropriate patient-surrogates in light of the previously expressed wishes of the patients. Care givers should encourage patients with AIDS to express their preferences about life-sustaining treatment in order to avoid dilemmas should these patients later become incompetent. The AIDS epidemic may force more explicit discussions about the allocation of limited health-care resources, such as intensive care. Such allocation decisions should not discriminate against patients with AIDS.

Keywords: Death and Euthanasia; Health Care and Public Health; Professional Patient Relationship

MeSH terms

• Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / economics
• Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / therapy
• Critical Care
• Decision Making
• Ethics, Medical*
• Health Resources / economics
• Humans
• Informed Consent
• Patient Advocacy
• Resource Allocation*
• Risk Assessment
• Withholding Treatment

Publication Types

• Journal Article
• Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
• Review

Grant support

• 1 P50 MH42459-01/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/United States

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