Reply to Commentary on Our Paper “Palliative Care and Patient Autonomy.”

Dax described the experience as tantamount to being placed in boiling oil.2 This was a gross violation of his autonomy and represented a misguided benevolence, despite the fact that his mother and the health care team wanted him to continue treatment. [...]our emphasis on patient autonomy does not ignore the “holistic” aspect of palliative care because we advocate that more, not less information be provided to dying patients. The commentator also claims that the protocol involved in the Oregon Death with Dignity Act (DWDA) may lead to the forced endurance of unactable symptoms due to the required waiting period.