eli5: Patients in hospice care are often unconscious due to high doses of sedative drugs, and are given no intravenous fluids, which leads to death by dehydration. Why is this done? Is there any difference between this and physician-assisted suicide?
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My FIL chose something called ‘twilight sedation’ when he was in hospice. From what was explained to me they gave him a strong sedative and from then on he wouldn’t wake up anymore. He wouldn’t be eating or drinking (he already wasn’t anyway, he had esophageal cancer). And so he would just be unconscious until his body was done and gave up. They said this process could take up to a week but he passed away the day after the sedation.
I think he wanted to choose for himself when he was done rather than just sitting and waiting for it to happen.
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