Q. An elderly terminally ill patient who was diagnosed by his doctors at the hospital as being close to death wants to be returned to his home to be able to die in a place familiar to him and with his family close by. Doctors say that they may be able to extend his life if he stays in the hospital, what is the correct thing to do?
The patient is hospitalized and connected to an IV, oxygen, and a monitor. All of which could be supplied at home, save emergencies, He is conscious and finds very unpleasant and stressful his stay at the hospital. In the opinion of an attending doctor, it could shorten life.
Thanks
A. Biur Halocho (328,4) states that we permit a Shabbos prohibited act, when there is a chance that it may extend the life of the dangerously ill, even when that act is not directly a cure for his sickness, but only serves to settle his mind, such as turning on or off lights, traveling with him etc. The Talmud Yerushalmi (Klaim 9,3) records a story about the sage Ullah being distressed to tears at the prospect of expiring outside of Eretz Yisroel. In Shmuel (II 19,38) we are told that King David agreed to his elderly and faithful servant Barzilay Hagilady’s request to depart this life in his own hometown, rather than follow him in honour to Yerushalaim. The great relevance of the site of ones demise is echoed in the words of Ruth (1,17) to Neomi "Where you die, I will die".
As there is a reasonable expectation that in going home the patient's mind will settle, and that will cause his life to be extended. Being that you can also provide basic nursing and medical care, and since there is no guarantee that attaching the terminally ill to a respirator etc. will extend his life (or that the room and equipment will be available), and there is always concern that being hospitalized could expose this patient to inherent hospital hazards, Horav Shlomo Miller's Shlit"a permits the egress of the patient from the hospital to his home.
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