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?

Question

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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Answer 1

I volunteered in a hospice for 9 years. Your observations do not match my experiences.

Hospices are for end of life care, not the moment of death. This is because they’re not hospitals and death is not always a gentle drift away. The hospice I worked at could allow you to die there, but it was very complicated and uncommon. The majority of people were there for a few weeks respite.

I’ve never known of a hospice patient have high dose sedatives, or forced dehydration. If a patient was unconscious they would have been transferred to hospital care.