Against Offering “Faux Codes”
An Ethically Problematic Workaround
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20334683 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Aimee Milliken (0000-0001-9077-1404), Richard Leiter (0000-0002-1090-7576) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 7-11 |
| Publication date | 2025-11-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Hastings Center Report (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0093-0334 • E-ISSN: 1552-146X |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/hast.70027 |
| PMID | 41378727 |
| OpenAlex | W4417231798 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 16 |
In another essay in this issue of the Hasting Center Report, an argument is made in favor of offering a “faux code” in the setting of a patient who cannot say no to her family who insists her code status remain “full.” Under the proposal, an unwritten agreement is made between the patient and the clinical team to withhold cardiopulmonary resuscitation while maintaining a “full code” status in the medical record. The ethical question in this case involves how best to support and uphold the patient's autonomy while minimizing the distress of the patient's family, and the “faux code” is proposed as an ethically supportable intervention. However, pressing ethical concerns remain. In this essay, we offer three main objections to the provision of a “faux code”: the role of deceit and its consequences for public trust, the impact on nurses and trainees, and the framing of autonomy under the faux code proposal
Argument (complex analysis) · Autonomy · Beneficence · Clinical Ethics · Distress · Framing (construction) · Organ donation · Personal autonomy · Unconscionability · Workaround · Ethics in medical practice · Family and Patient Care in Intensive Care Units · Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues
| Highly cited | No |
|---|