A wire service article about conflicts over hospital policies – when patients’ families want continued treatment, and medical professionals don’t.

Backed by court orders and medical ethicists, hospitals have adopted little-known policies that declare “doctors know best” in deciding when to withhold or withdraw potentially life-saving treatments. As a result, a patient’s final wishes may not be carried out, even when dictated in a living will or other legal document.

“Years ago, it was the physician who wouldn’t stop. Now, it’s the opposite: The doctor wants to give up and the family doesn’t,” said Dr. Joseph Vincent, an internist and founding member and chairman of the medical ethics committee at Lehigh Valley Hospital.