Covert Denials of Non-Beneficial Treatment in Sweden

The Swedish newspaper Expressen reports that physicians there often decide to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment without consulting either the patient or surrogate.  Prevailing laws and regulations require consultation with the family.  But this fails to occur up to 50% of the time.  (HT: Stockholm News)  

While this happens in the United States too, there is legal risk in doing so.  There has been one consistent source of liability for unilateral refusals of life-sustaining treatment:  claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress when the refusal was done secretively or insensitively.