A patient refuses treatment for a life threatening condition. Discuss the ethical issues involved.

When faced with an ethical question it is imporant to remember the four pillars of ethics which are applied in Medicine: Respect for autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence and justice.  Although all the pillars of ethics are applicable to this situation the most important are respect for autonomy and beneficence. With regard to respect for autonomy you need to realise that the patient (if they are deamed to have capacity) are within their right to refuse treatment eve if that means that their life is at risk. On the other hand withholding treatment may mean that you are no longer acting in the patients best interects (beneficence). Although this might be atough decision to make if the patient had the capacity to consent and refused treatment then it is your duty to respect their wishes. An it may even cause psychological trauma if you do pursue treatment without their aproval.