Withholding and withdrawing life support: difficult decisions around care at the end of life

In this issue of the Journal, the Canadian Critical Care Society (CCCS) released a position paper by Bandrauk et al.1 on withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatment (WWLST). The authors’ objective was to create a framework for healthcare professionals to help them understand and develop an approach to end-of-life care decision-making in the intensive care unit (ICU). End-of-life care and WWLST are common issues in the ICU, and as the authors have identified in their article, these practices require careful attention to a number of ethical factors and legal precedents as well as to the context of the patient/family and healthcare professionals. This editorial provides additional comments on WWLST and end-of-life care.