April 1, 2026 Webinar Information

How Should We Respond When the Patient and Family Request Risky Treatment for Patient Who Is Imminently Dying?

Webinar Description

On what basis can physicians refuse to provide treatment requested by a patient? What process is recommended to support a physician determination that the risk of a procedure is too high and that the burdens of a treatment will outweigh the benefits? How do anesthesiologists analyze surgery risk because of anesthesia? When do anesthesiologists refuse to provide anesthesia because they judge the risk to be too high? What communication approach is recommended to convey to patients and families that a high-risk treatment is not recommended? Should the surgeon provide surgery against their professional judgment because it is requested?

Panelists

The panelists for the webinar are Katherine Hill, MD, MS, FACS, Assistant Professor, WVU Dept of Surgery and Medicine, Division of General Surgery, Division of Geriatrics, Palliative Medicine & Hospice,, Stacie Honaker, Esq, the Risk Manager and Privacy Officer for the WVU Health Sciences Center and ex-officio member of the WVNEC Advisory Committee,  Dan Miller, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy, West Virginia University, and Alvin H. Moss, MD, Professor of Medicine, West Virginia University School of Medicine, and Executive Director of WVNEC and Elizabeth Sinz, MD, Professor, Associate Medical Director of the WVU Critical Care and Trauma Institute. They will discuss the multiple clinical, ethical and legal issues in the case and recommend how best to approach and resolve the conflict. Please attend, chat in your questions and comments, and learn answers to your questions and those of others.

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of the session, participants should be able to:

• Describe how the process of ethical decision-making helps to unpack the complex issues in this case;
• Discuss what it means for the patient NOT to be a “surgical candidate”;
• Explain how anesthesia risk is assessed and why it is part of an ethical determination of whether surgery should be performed;
• Synthesize the facts and values in this case and make a recommendation regarding surgery or not based on the patient’s goals of care; and
• Use a “better conversations for better informed consent” communication approach to discuss with the patient and family the pros and cons of surgery.