When my wife’s mom was dying of cancer in June, and we were fighting for her to receive and briefly maintain IV sedation for comfort (besides pain, Kay’s primary concern was how dry her mouth was, as she became unable to swallow towards the end) the staff at Windber Hospice gave Sue a printout that included the following excerpt about the “benefits” of dehydration. They implied that we were causing Kay unnecessary discomfort and distress by insisting on the IV hydration. They blamed her congestion and secretions in her throat in the last several days on the IV hydration (she was dying of lung cancer!)

If we had not insisted on switching Kay back to Fentanyl pain patches from MS Contin and Roxinol for the metastatic bone pain (Windber rarely if ever uses anything besides Morphine for pain control), I’m sure Kay would have been unable to express her concerns about the discomfort she was having from being unable to swallow enough ice chips to maintain hydration. She had serious problems with poor pain control, nausea and becoming incoherent while on the Morphine, which resolved when we switched back to Fentanyl. This hospice “never” uses Fentanyl in its pain management, according to their staff.

Some of the statements on this handout are certainly true. There are instances at the very end of life where the statements about hydration itself are true. However, this document could obviously be used to promote euthanasia by dehydration even in patients who are far from “terminal.” In our circumstances, the staff had no scruples about trying to manipulate us and make us feel guilty for insisting on hydration. One staff member, when Sue asked her how often she dealt with IVs at the hospice unit, rolled her eyes and said, “We NEVER give IVs.”

I’ve transcribed the text of the pertinent section below (bold was in original):

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The body is responding to the disease process and is trying to shut down normal function.
Usually, dying people do not feel hungry or thirsty.
They are not starving; nature is at work assisting them to die in a more comfortable way.
Dehydration is nature at work and can bring relief from distressing symptoms such as

Hiccough
Abdominal bloating
Vomiting from increased stomach secretions
Pressure from the tumor causing pain
Shortness of breath
Lung congestion
Rattling secretions
Impaired consciousness

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This was at a hospice founded by a devout Christian physician in the early 1980s, who had traveled to England to personally meet Dame Cecily Saunders (founder of the modern hospice movement), and built his hospice on her Christian principles.

This hospice today has prominent new age elements, and its current administrator is actively trying to suppress its Christian roots according to staff I spoke with.