Guido15 Asked March 2016

How can hospice (in-hospital) legally withhold food and water from a patient?

They give them nothing but morphine? Is that not euthanasia? Was in-home hospice pt because hospice & palliative care have you in a financial catch22. No matter what you choose, it is not the best care. Item: Pt got herself down hall to bathroom, muscles weakened & she ran out of energy, sunk to floor in bathroom. Could not get her into her wheelchair but in moving her toward chair, I discovered her O2 tube was no longer connected to her cannula. Immediately we reconnected but still needed help to get her up off floor. We called 911. EMTs said her vitals were perfect & she was "strong woman" but they insisted she go to hospital. Somehow ER staff got 1 of the healthcare proxies to sign DNR for pt and now she's in hospice receiving no food or water. Of course she will die from dehydration, if nothing else. This is criminal to me. How can this be legally acceptable for someone who does not want this & she's so doped up, she can't complain except in someone's ear: "Get me out of here."? She may be in end-stage COPD but she is only dying with medical help she does not want. She asked not to die in-hospital & refused to sign a DNR & I don't understand this at all. Is there anything at all I can do?

End of Life

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I truly think that there are many who either do not read the hospice agreement and/ or do not at all understand hospice. Their purpose is to keep the patient as comfortable as possible, to alleviate pain as much as possible and it is up to the family to seek appropriate counseling regarding the patient's need for the palliative only care that any hospice groups I have encountered offers. These are caring compassionate people who are there only to ease the transition. There have been several comments declaring that they put their loved one in hospice and the loved one has been deprived of food and hydration. I have recently experienced the deaths of several family members and three friends in three states and every family member was deeply appreciative of the care their loved one received. Please do not make this decision without complete knowledge of the purpose and the process.

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I’m done here. These people , or bots, or whatever they are, deserve no response.

Forum members should ALL quit engaging this crap on all the Hospice hater threads. Over and out.....

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Who are these people....Russian trolls?

Helpful Answer (5)

shameonthemall, look up aspiration then you will understand why some patients no longer can take in food or water. Also when the organs start to shut down, food would just sit in the stomach, painful.... and water would sit in the kidneys, painful.

The more you know about how the body works, the better it is to understand what is happening to your love one.

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Please note that EMT's are NOT doctors, yes her vitals might had been strong, so was my Mom's at 98, but Mom was going into a downward spiral after a bad fall.

Hospice doesn't stop food and water. It's the patient who refuses to eat or drink as they know that death is coming soon. There is nothing one can do to reverse that, except make the patient very comfortable. You wouldn't want your friend in terrible pain and COPD can make a person feel like they are suffocating.

Just curious, who did sign the DNR?

Helpful Answer (4)

I don't agree with freqflyer. My father was told he was going to hospice for a week or so, until he got a little stronger, and then would be discharged home. We all realized there were no more treatment options but thought he would just finish out the last months or year of his life at home. He was ravenously hungry when he was put in Hospice and begging us for cheeseburgers and fruit smoothies, which we happily got for him. He had moderate pain in his legs but seemed to be handling it fine. He was joking, laughing and enjoying his family. His cognition and memory were 100% intact. In come the steady stream of nurses with morphine. The intervals between morphine doses got shorter and the syringes got larger. After 2-3 days, he was sleeping 20 hours a day. After 4-5 days, we couldn't wake him at all. At this point, the staff said he could no longer have water or food, because he could aspirate. This experience was heartbreaking. A DNR, to me, means no heroic or resuscitative measures are to be taken. NOT to drug someone and starve them so that the bed will be available for the next victim to be starved and drugged to death.

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Windy, maybe campaigns aren't the only thing the Russians are meddling in.

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You don't get hospice without PROOF of a terminal illness.
If home care results in a fall, you are better off in a hospital where multiple people can move the patient and a hoyer lift is available.
The DNR is signed by the HCP and the doctor. It is not up to the HCP alone.
It is not easy to sign that paper, but watching someone suffocate without morphine to help the breathing would be unbearable.

Helpful Answer (3)

Opioids such as morphine can cause side effects such as difficulty swallowing and loss of appetite. These symptoms are increased when other drugs, such as Ativan and Haldol are added.

Morphine also shuts down breathing.

medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a682133.html

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There seems to be a mass misunderstanding of Hospice and opioids...secret agendas and conspiracy theories seem to abound as well...it's sad very sad that people are basically spreading lies about Hospice...and confusing and mudding the waters for newcomers...people need to do research before bandwagoning...I'm sorry your loved one died but they were not murdered...get some therapy and move past this...

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How can hospice (in-hospital) legally withhold food and water from a patient?

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