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. 2020 Sep;50(5):5-6.
doi: 10.1002/hast.1177.

On "Not Recommending" ECMO

Ian D Wolfe

On "Not Recommending" ECMO

Ian D Wolfe. Hastings Cent Rep. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

The neonatologist was describing the dire situation, the complexity of the fetus's anomalies, and the options-comfort care, some resuscitation-and finished by saying, "We would not recommend ECMO …" "We would not recommend" is a curious phrase. There is something ambiguous, very nebulous about it, something passive, noncommittal, maybe even deflective. As a bioethics researcher, I wondered how this phrase is interpreted, how it influences parents' moral deliberation over their options.

Keywords: ECMO; clinician communication; neonatal medicine; palliative care; parent-physician relationship; pediatric decision-making.

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References

    1. A. L. Kratovil and W. A. Julion, “Health-Care Provider Communication with Expectant Parents during a Prenatal Diagnosis: An Integrative Review,” Journal of Perinatology 37, no. 1 (2017): 2-12.

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