Pain Medication

The reason this question is on the form is that if your healthcare agent authorizes a morphine drip at the end of life, it will hasten death (the body often shuts down in a few days].  Doctors have told me that you absolutely want this because if you do not have it many patients will take two weeks of screaming agony to pass.   

It is helpful to authorize pain medication because even thought it is standard medical practice to use pain medication in this way, many individuals who have watched someone pass with the assistance of morphine, believe the health care agent “killed them” or let “let them die.”  If it is specifically authorized in your directive, then your health care agent can point to your directive as authority for this decision.   

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If you are worried about addiction or would like to limit the use of pain medication to stay more clear at the end of life, you can select “use as little as possible,” and then it will be up to your healthcare agent to use as little as possible, but they can still use morphine end of life if they believe you are in extreme pain.