Meisel A
Center for Medical Ethics, University of Pittsburgh, PA.
Arch Intern Med. 1991 Aug;151(8):1497-502.
There are a number of myths about what the law permits concerning the termination of life support, some of which spring from a fundamental misconception of what law is. A serious misunderstanding of the law can lead to tragic results for physicians, health care institutions, patients, and families. These misunderstandings are (1) anything that is not specifically permitted by law is prohibited; (2) termination of life support is murder or suicide; (3) a patient must be terminally ill for life support to be stopped; (4) it is permissible to terminate extraordinary treatments, but not ordinary ones; (5) it is permissible to withhold treatment, but once started, it must be continued; (6) stopping tube feeding is legally different from stopping other treatments; (7) termination of life support requires going to court; and (8) living wills are not legal.
关于法律在终止生命维持方面允许什么存在许多误解，其中一些源于对法律本质的根本误解。对法律的严重误解可能给医生、医疗机构、患者及其家庭带来悲剧性后果。这些误解包括：（1）法律未明确允许的任何事情都是被禁止的；（2）终止生命维持是谋杀或自杀；（3）患者必须处于绝症状态才能停止生命维持；（4）可以终止特殊治疗，但不能终止普通治疗；（5）可以停止治疗，但一旦开始就必须继续；（6）停止鼻饲在法律上与停止其他治疗不同；（7）终止生命维持需要诉诸法庭；（8）生前预嘱不具有法律效力。
