Conflicts regarding decisions to limit treatment - A differential diagnosis

Conflicts between physicians and families about end-of-life decisions creat e challenging and emotionally difficult situations. In this article, we pro pose a "differential diagnosis" of such conflicts, distinguishing and descr ibing the characteristics of families, physicians, and organizations and so ciety that contribute to the "etiology" of the situation, as well as strate gies for "diagnosing" the dominant factors. As a medical model, the differe ntial diagnosis can be a useful tool to help physicians understand and mana ge conflicts about end-of-life care.