Latest post of the previous page:
OK, thanks. I knew of the practice but not the LCP label, and I did not know that patients were asked in advance. I suppose the practice is a form of "double action": since the ostensible and justifiable reason in giving heavy doses of painkillers is to ease pain rather than to kill, it cannot indeed be called voluntary euthansia or assisted suicideWoody Duck wrote:Animist,
You have slightly misunderstood the Liverpool care path way. It is not a pathway that gives permission to assist in someones death. It is a pathway implemented when someones condition is such that they are likely to die within the next few days. At this point crisis drugs are prescribed to relieve discomfort and pain usually given through a syringe driver. In this case the priority is symptom relief and in general some one will usually die from the condition that they have. On occassions the balance between symptom relief and side effects of certain drugs may steer someone towards death but this is only when the analgesic need dictates. It is in no way related to euthanasia
or assisted dying. In this case Tony Nicholson would have been a completely unsuitable candidate for LCP. The life threatening problems he had were reversible and thus not indicative really of palliative care or the LCP unless of course the co morbidities that might occur such as septicaemia from pressure sores ala Christopher Reeve caused irreversible damage likely to cause imminent death