Assisted Suicide, Palliative Care & Twitter

I’m just now beginning to comprehend the language and usefulness of Twitter and the social network’s means of organizing feeds within the use of hash tags. So maybe this is nothing new. But in the past few weeks, #palliative and #hospice have opened my eyes to the widespread engagement, locally and internationally, of important questions about how we die -- and how patients in the process of dying are treated.

For example, a woman in western Canada is pursuing in court her “right” to an assisted suicide, a practice that could be headed for the 2012 ballot in Massachusetts and to which the Massachusetts Medical Society has reaffirmed its opposition. Meanwhile, the recognized benefits of palliative care are increasing its stature within medical practice at the very time the ranks of trained palliative nurses is shrinking.

All of which fed my interest in a tweet linking to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, or NICE, website. NICE provides guidance and standards on prevention and treatment in the United Kingdom.

NICE, which is developing clinical guidelines related to the use of strong opioids in palliative care, has posted draft recommendations and invited public comment into the new year.

Importantly, the draft report addresses public concern when the focus of treatment moves from disease to pain, as well as strategies for better communication between the care team and patient, and the side effect of addiction.

"The new draft guideline puts a strong emphasis on good communication between patient and healthcare professionals,” said Dr Fergus Macbeth, director of the Centre for Clinical Practice at NICE. “This is key to ensuring that any doubts or uncertainties are addressed, thereby enabling the patient to feel content in following what has been prescribed and therefore potentially improving their pain control and reducing any associated side effects.”

Notably, the draft guidelines include: “When offering a patient pain treatment with strong opioids, ask them about concerns such as: addiction, tolerance, side effects, fears that treatment implies the final stages of life. Offer patients access to frequent review of pain control and side effects and information on who to contact out of hours, particularly during initiation of treatment.”

For more on the draft guidelines, see: http://guidance.nice.org.uk/CG/Wave24/4.