ABSTRACT
Introduction: Health professionals today are struggling to keep afloat a patient. Each time the debate about the decisions at the end of life centers on whether the person has the right to decide on the end.
Objective: The purpose of this retrospective study is to quote legal and ethical issues that arise on death. Literature review: Extensive and systematic review of international databases (MeSH, Pubmed), retrieved information from the bioethics committees of various countries (Greece, Cyprus, Britain, France, Austria, Belgium) and the Steering Committee for Bioethics of the Council of Europe and studied the literature of the last decade with keywords like: a therapeutic benefit, palliative health care, ultimately, independence.
The systematic review has shown that death is a major public health issue because of several parameters related to the early exercise of the medical and nursing functions, to inequalities in health and the social, ethics and religious perceptions.The artificial support of basic functions in humans, led to the identification of particular types of syndromes such as brain death and the persistent vegetative state, thus creating moral dilemmas on the application, continuation or withdrawal of life support.
Conclusion: It is understood that any discussion on the subject, cannot find answers or solutions to be adopted unanimously. The more supported a right to death, in the name of any “decent redemption,” the role of doctors and nurses are trying to heal and if it does not stand possible, alleviate pain and relieve until the end.
Keywords: palliative care, autonomy, therapeutic benefit, treatment limitation, final stage