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IC-14 STATEMENT ON WITHHOLDING AND WITHDRAWING TREATMENT

Introduction

The Statement on Withholding and Withdrawing Treatment outlines the ethical and clinical principles guiding decisions to limit or cease life-sustaining treatment in intensive care. It recognises that while intensive care can save lives, continued intervention may sometimes cause unnecessary suffering with little or no benefit. Decisions should balance the potential benefits of treatment against burdens such as pain, loss of dignity, and poor quality of life. Key ethical principles—autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, and respect for life—inform this process. Patients have the right to refuse or withdraw consent for treatment, and their wishes should be respected directly or through advance directives. Decisions must involve clear communication and consensus between healthcare teams, patients, and families, with proper documentation of outcomes. When active treatment is withdrawn, focus should shift to comfort and dignity through palliative care, recognising withholding and withdrawing treatment as ethically and legally equivalent actions.

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Document Type Statement
Date Established 2003
Date Last Reviewed 2021
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Acknowledgement of Country

CICM acknowledges and pays respect to the Traditional Custodians of the lands across Australia on which our members live and work, and to their Elders, past, present and future. We pay respect to the Wurundjeri Peoples of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which CICM’s office stands.

CICM acknowledges Māori as tangata whenua and Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi) partners in Aotearoa New Zealand.