Advances in life-sustaining technologies have intensified the ethical and practical challenges surrounding the withdrawal of treatment in terminally ill or medically futile cases. While patients’ rights to refuse or discontinue therapy are widely recognized, physicians often struggle with the moral burden of physically turning off life-support devices, particularly when doing so directly results in death. This legal prescription examines distinctions between regulative and constitutive treatments, the complexities of surrogate decision-making, and the emotional weight placed on families. It argues that, absent an advance directive or designated individual, the attending physician should perform the act, supported by clear institutional policies to guide practice.

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