Stopping fluids at the end of life: a dilemma not just for Kasem’s family

By Randi Belisomo NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In the family disputes that surrounded American radio icon Casey Kasem’s last weeks of life, his daughter’s decision to carry out Kasem’s wish - to suspend artificial feedings and fluids - was among the most contested. Kasem’s advance directive called for no life-sustaining treatment if it “would result in a mere biological existence.” But his wife opposed a court order allowing an end to artificial measures; her attorney called it a “functional equivalent of a death sentence.” The Kasem family infighting is...