Involuntary weight loss: Ethical and legal considerations

Technological advances, pharmacological interventions, healthcare reform, rising healthcare cost, and the medical malpractice crisis all impact the practice of medicine. With this in mind, awareness of ethical issues is imperative, as is the ability to resolve ethical problems, There is a need for clinicians to understand end-of-life issues, palliative care of the terminally ill patient, and the foregoing life-sustaining hydration and nutrition as they pertain to the patient. Equally important, though, is knowledge of standards of care, legal standards, outcome-based evidence practices, and determination of reasonable and appropriate interventions in the individual with treatable conditions, such as protein-energy malnutrition.