http://www.hospicepatients.org/n-valko-terminal-sedation.html
It gave me a terminal case of the creeps.
What is important to note is that in the appropriate use of terminal sedation, the patient is sedated and death ensues from the underlying illness, NOT from the sedation itself! If the patient is sedated and the patient simply dehydrates over several days and dies of circulatory collapse, not the disease process, then the "terminal sedation" is not palliative care, but imposed death: euthanasia. If the patient is truly actively dying, and is then terminally sedated, the patient quite often does not have time to dehydrate, even though fluids are not being given, and the patient dies as a natural result of the terminal illness. The R.N. who called today stated that his hospice's medical director gave an example of a cancer patient without family support who wished to die at home. The medical director stated that in such a case, terminal sedation was appropriate and the patient could be sedated into a coma simply because nobody else was in the home to care for the patient and because the patient did not want to die in a facility. There was no mention of terminal agitation, delirium, severe anxiety related to respiratory problems or psychotic episodes ... in which sedation would be appropriate. In other words, the medical director was asserting that it was "ok" to hasten death intentionally by using terminal sedation. In fact, in the same hospice, a nurse on the hospice's ethics board told the group that they should look themselves in the mirror every morning and tell themselves, "I hasten people's deaths to eliminate their suffering, and that is ok."
from http://www.chninternational.com/terminal_sedation_1.htm
A doctor who doesn't know about the benefits of food and water??. Perhaps he needs to go on a 'forced diet'.