RT Journal
A1 Skillman JJ
T1 TErminal care in patients with chronic lung disease
JF Archives of Internal Medicine
JO Archives of Internal Medicine
YR 1979
FD August 1
VO 139
IS 8
SP 917
OP 919
DO 10.1001/archinte.1979.03630450059018
UL http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archinte.1979.03630450059018
AB Life beings at birth and extends in a continuum to death; or does it? Is there a point when it may be said that death is beginning?1 Does it not seem that in caring for a seriously ill patient there is a point when almost every physician and nurse of experience can say to himself or herself (even though one may not outwardly express it) that the patient is beginning to die? At times there is considerable doubt when this point has been reached, for it is clearly less precise than the moment of birth or the time of death. Those who would agree that a point of beginning death can never be defined are likely to be the same ones who argue most strongly against the discontinuation of life support systems. For them the uncertainty is too great ever to give up seeking a cure. Their sensitivity to