Hospice: does its pain meds hasten peoples' deaths?

[Monte_RCMS]

I am looking for suggestions and ideas and thoughts.

Do hospice pain meds hasten peoples’ deaths?

Two people in their 80’s, not in great pain [one in minimal pain (spoke on the phone the week before) and one in no pain (visited the week before and was merely “fading away”)], died shortly after receiving hospice pain meds/ morphine.

Is this euthanasia or ???

One priest [here on CAF?] commented that he had suddenly realized that he would visit a hospice to provide the “last rites” and the patient would be asked if they wanted something for the pain, and they would say yes, and the next day they would be dead.

So, at what point does the pain med hasten the patient’s death?

 

[Cracker_Mom]

There have been other threads on this issue & I think the answer is both yes & no. It just depends on the integrity of the hospice & whether it is committed to traditional Catholic values.
Pain meds can indirectly hasten death while easing the suffering of the terminally ill but should never be used for the purpose of euthanasia. Ethical doctors know the difference.
Some hospices seem to feel the patients have a duty to die, others not. I’d be wary.