Commentary: A case of too much maternalism.

Abstract

234 decisionmaking and the danger of a surrogate making paternalistic or possibly harmful decisions. 7 A shared decisionmaking model 8 that involves members of the care team, members of an ethics committee, and other members of the patient’s family or the patient’s friends, as well as the surrogate, would help in this case. There is a good chance that Ed’s mother is in denial and is still suffering immense grief over her son’s predicament and needs both time and support to help her address the reality of his condition. Through a shared decisionmaking model, her burden of making decisions on Ed’s behalf could be lessened, and she could become more open to acknowledging her son’s desire to die peacefully and come to be at peace with this decision, knowing that she did not give up on her son. As with most ethical dilemmas, compassion, trust, patience, and good communication strategies can go a long way to helping resolve seemingly intractable disagreements.