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01-11-2011 | Editorial

Tolstoy on transparency and authority in end-of-life decision-making

Author: Robert D. Truog

Published in: Intensive Care Medicine | Issue 11/2011

Excerpt

In this issue of Intensive Care Medicine, Devictor et al. [1] provide us with fascinating information about the evolution of end-of-life decision-making in pediatric ICUs over the last decade across Europe. Although a number of insights can be drawn from these data, I will focus on the dramatic changes they describe in the south of Europe, and particularly in France. Between 2002 and 2009, the percentage of parents informed that there would be a staff meeting to discuss end-of-life issues about their child rose from 67% to 92%, and the percentage of parents who were informed about the decision that was reached rose from 68% to 92%. …

Devictor DJ, Latour JM, EURYDICE II Study Group (2011) Forgoing life support: how the decision is made in European pediatric intensive care units. Intensive Care Med. doi:10.1007/s00134-011-2357-3

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Truog RD, Campbell ML, Curtis JR, Haas CE, Luce JM, Rubenfeld GD, Rushton CH, Kaufman DC (2008) Recommendations for end-of-life care in the intensive care unit: a consensus statement by the American Academy of Critical Care Medicine. Crit Care Med 36:953–963PubMedCrossRef

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Azoulay E, Pochard F, Chevret S, Adrie C, Annane D, Bleichner G, Bornstain C, Bouffard Y, Cohen Y, Feissel M, Goldgran-Toledano D, Guitton C, Hayon J, Iglesias E, Joly LM, Jourdain M, Laplace C, Lebert C, Pingat J, Poisson C, Renault A, Sanchez O, Selcer D, Timsit JF, Le Gall JR, Schlemmer B (2004) Half the family members of intensive care unit patients do not want to share in the decision-making process: a study in 78 French intensive care units. Crit Care Med 32:1832–1838PubMedCrossRef

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10.

Carlet J, Thijs LG, Antonelli M, Cassell J, Cox P, Hill N, Hinds C, Pimentel JM, Reinhart K, Thompson BT (2004) Challenges in end-of-life care in the ICU: statement of the 5th international consensus conference in critical care: Brussels, Belgium, April 2003. Intensive Care Med 30:770–784PubMedCrossRef

Title: Tolstoy on transparency and authority in end-of-life decision-making
Author: Robert D. Truog
Publication date: 01-11-2011
Publisher: Springer-Verlag
Published in: Intensive Care Medicine / Issue 11/2011
Print ISSN: 0342-4642
Electronic ISSN: 1432-1238
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-011-2365-3

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Tolstoy on transparency and authority in end-of-life decision-making

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