Strengths of the French end-of-life Law as Well as its Shortcomings in Handling Intractable Disputes Between Physicians and Families

Abstract

French end-of-life law aims at protecting patients from unreasonable treatments, but has been used to force caregivers to prolong treatments deemed unreasonable. We describe six cases (five intensive care unit patients including two children) where families disagreed with a decision to withdraw treatments and sued medical teams. An emergent inquiry was instigated by the families. In two cases, the court rejected the families’ inquiries. In two cases, the families appealed the decision, and in both the first jurisdiction decision was confirmed, compelling caregivers to pursue treatments, even though they deemed them unreasonable. We discuss how this law may be perverted. Legal procedures may result in the units’ disorganisation and give rise to caregivers’ stress. Families’ requests may be subtended by religious beliefs. French end-of-life law has benefits in theoretically constraining physicians to withhold or withdraw disproportionate therapies. These cases underline some caveats and the perverse effects of its literal reading.