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To the Editor: In their Grand Rounds, Dr Applbaum and colleagues¹ presented a case concerning a family's request for complementary medicine after brain death in a 19-year-old patient. The medical team requested advice from an ethics consultation team, which concluded that "‘given the psychological benefits to the family . . . and the absence of risk to the patient’ (since she was dead), it was permissible for the team to accommodate the family's request so long as clear time limits were in place (2-3 days maximum)." While understandable from a psychological point of view, it is troublesome from an ethical position.

In many cases, the reason for nonacceptance of brain death is emotional: the resistance of family members to accept the unavoidable death of the patient. Continuation of intensive care unit (ICU) therapy might seem the most compassionate course in case of family opposition. However, by allowing the family to select the optimal timing . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Erwin J. O. Kompanje, PhD
e.j.o.kompanje@erasmusmc.nl
Erasmus MC University Medical Center
Rotterdam, the Netherlands

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