If the person is dying, why do you have to induce death at all?
A dying person needs comfort-care, hygiene, and effective pain management --- and more than anything, needs loving presence: an accompanying person who is alert to even their feeble reactions, and responsive to their needs, including the need for the sound of a familiar voice, and the need for touch.
Neither starvation/dehydration nor deliberate morphine overdosing (under the guise of "terminal sedation") can provide for a dying person's real needs. A loving person can. A terminally ill person will die soon enough. There's no "need" to grease the skids and give a hearty shove with an implacable "Adios."
Repeating tagline without typo:
Well said, Mrs. D.
Thank you!
I learned a lot when my Mom was dying. I learned that you really need to be surrounded by people who love you and will advocate for you and I learned to have a bit of concern about the medical community. You really REALLY need to have a loving family and I would hate to be alone in the world. I do NOT want the government or even my doctor making decisions for me. Ever.
While I very much liked your post #40, I found therein no answer to the dilemma of what to do when pain control doesn’t work?
“A terminally ill person will die soon enough.” is tragically not always correct.