Clinical updates: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation - should it be opt-in?

Image: www.mja.com.au

A controversial proposal to end cardiopulmonary resuscitation as the “universal default” for hospital inpatients and replace it with an opt-in system has generated heated debate among doctors and lawyers. In a “For debate” article published on 28 July by the MJA, Associate Professor Michele Levinson, head of the Cabrini-Monash Department of Medicine and research fellow Dr Amber Mills, challenged the idea that cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was a patient’s right, arguing that “a CPR discussion should occur on admission for all elderly hospital inpatients”. Story link.