Need advice on extraordinary means

[Riley259]

My father is elderly and very sick. In addition to cardiac problems, his kidneys are failing. Although he is frail and pretty weak, death is not necessarily imminent. The subject of kidney dialysis has come up a couple of times and my father has said that he wouldn’t want it. Is dialysis in this case considered extraordinary means to keep him alive or given his age, frailty and other medical complications, is it morally licit for him to refuse the dialysis? By the way, my father has been a devout Catholic his whole life. What would be the Church’s stance on his obligation in this case? Any feedback or info would be appreciated.

 

[Didi]

Here’s what the Catechism says:

2278 Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of “over-zealous” treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one’s inability to impede it is merely accepted. The decisions should be made by the patient if he is competent and able or, if not, by those legally entitled to act for the patient, whose reasonable will and legitimate interests must always be respected.

2279 Even if death is thought imminent, the oridnary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted. The use of painkillers to alleviate the sufferings of the dying, even at the risk of shortening their days, can be morally in conformity with human dignity if death is not willed as either an end or a means, but only foreseen and tolerated as inevitable. Palliative care is a special form of disinterested charity. As such it should be encouraged.

I would think in your father’s case that he has the right to refuse dialysis. You might want to consult a priest who may have more detailed questions for him.

 

[Mom_of_one]

I think that it would be OK for him to refuse dialysis, given all those circumstances.

 

[Riley259]

Thanks for the advice. This forum is such a support for like-minded Catholics.

 

[Mary_s_Lamb]

Thanks Riley for starting this thread. My MIL is similar to your dad. She had a temporary bout of renal failure, last month. Fortunately she responded to IV fluids.

But now she is in the hospital with a tumor near her large intestine. She’s having problems with her blood pressure, so surgery is not an option yet. But we know it is going to come up.

Our problem is that my husband is the only practicing catholic in the family. The rest want to just “let” her die. Apparantly, they don’t care if she’s in pain and surgery could help alleviate that portion of her suffering. They resemble Michael Schiavo in their compassion.

My husband happens to be the POA. But the rest of his family is being pushy and manipulative to get their own way. And I wish I was only worrying too much, but I KNOW that it’s going to get ugly.

Anyone who reads this please pray for my husband to have the wisdom and fortitude to do the right thing. His family is highly dysfunction with alcohol abuse and mental illness. So they’re not people you can reason with.

Mary