Time to Revise the Approach to Determining Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation Status

From JAMA, via Kevin MD:

In US hospitals, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is the de facto default option—patients must “opt out” by requesting or consenting to a do-not-attempt-resuscitation order. Despite its worthy intent, requiring all patients or their surrogates to consent to a do-not-attempt-resuscitation order to avoid CPR has resulted in an ethically unjustifiable practice that exposes many patients to substantial harms.