T. Garanis-papadatos et A. Katsas, The milk and the honey: ethics of artificial nutrition and hydration of the elderly on the other side of Europe, J MED ETHIC, 25(6), 1999, pp. 447-450
Citations number
22
Categorie Soggetti
Public Health & Health Care Science","General & Internal Medicine
Many health problems that elderly people face today relate not only to the
nature of their affliction but also to the kind of treatment required. Such
treatment often includes artificial nutrition and hydration, (ANH) a proce
dure which, despite its technical and invasive character, is still consider
ed to be vested with symbolic meanings. It is precisely during the efforts
to reach a legal consensus that the discrepancies between various cultural
contexts become obvious. The following case explores the Greek clinical ter
ritory in comparison with the international situation, and the reasons why,
in Greece, the right to refuse treatment is not necessarily interpreted as
including the right to refuse artificial nutrition and hydration as well.