Australian Medical Association Asks When -NOT- to Prolong Life

Brisbane's Courier-Mail reports that the Australian Medical Association has called for discussion of when medical science should NOT prolong the lives of the terminally ill. 



AMA President Steve Hambleton says it is important for families and patients to have a better understanding of the realistic outcome of treatments, including the use of drugs that might extend life for little more than weeks, but at the cost of potentially debilitating side effects such as vomiting, seizures or even blindness.



But the debate will be challenging.  Grattan Institute health program director Stephen Duckett argues that Australians seemed to have an unrealistic view of dying, claiming they are given the impression that "we're going to be immortal."  At the same time he says he believes many health professionals "think they can save everybody."  The result is a "conveyor belt" of healthcare, with the elderly being sent from nursing homes to emergency wards and given too many interventions. 



A Courier-Mail editorial rightly argues:  "Death and dying are never easy topics to confront. But continuing advances in medical science are likely to make the issues being raised by the AMA even more pressing in years to come, which is why this is a debate we have to have now rather than later, as challenging as it might be at so many levels."