The Pitt and the Principle of Double Effect; Does Morphine Really Hasten Death?

Why Treating Suffering is Always the Moral Choice Does morphine hasten death at the end of life? This is one of the most common—and most distressing—questions families ask in hospice and palliative care. “If you hold their hand and they die, did holding their hand cause the death? No, the cancer or whatever disease process is going on is the cause of death and everything we do to make their end-of-life pain free, comfortable, or offers human connection and love is the right thing to do in the...