Center to Advance Palliative Care

Practicing at two different community hospitals has taught me that neither hospital is exactly enthusiastic about setting down in a policy or guideline the exact details of deciding who is a candidate for palliative sedation and who is not and just how to accomplish it and with what drugs. The UNIPAC series has several locations where this topic is dealt with. The exact drugs utilized probably depends more on the familiarity of the "expert" than the actual drug(s). I think that it is advisable that a person credentialled in palliative care medicine be part of the team. If there is no such person, than the next best/most respected MD should be involved. Ethics committee involvement should not routinely be necessary---unless there are disputed issues or parties.