Most Doctors Polled Cut Off Life Support

A high percentage of doctors--96%--have withdrawn or withheld life-support treatment from patients when further treatment seemed futile, and many acted without consent, a new survey shows.

Some critical-care doctors admitted cutting off life supports even over the objections of patients, a report in the current issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine said.

The study surveyed 879 doctors in adult intensive-care units in the United States.