Withholding and Withdrawal of Treatments: Differences in Perceptions between Intensivists, Oncologists, and Prosecutors in Brazil.

Legal concerns have been implicated in the occurrence of variability in decisions of limitations of medical treatment (LOMT) before death. We aimed to assess differences in perceptions between physicians and prosecutors toward LOMT. We sent a survey to intensivists, oncologists, and prosecutors from Brazil, from February 2018 to May 2018.

[Autonomy: to live one's own life and to die one's own death].

The present study describes the changes that have occurred in most Western countries, Brazil included, since medicine has shifted progressively from a paternalistic model to one that promotes patients autonomy and self-determination. Respect for patient autonomy and self-determination is the primary basis for withholding and withdrawing life support. An adult patient who has decision-making capacity and is appropriately informed has the right to forgo all forms of medical therapy, including life support measures.