Why do hospices stop giving food and water to terminally ill patients?

Continuing food and water or choosing artificial nutrition or hydration (ANH)—such as NG or PEG feeding tubes or IV fluids—can complicate the dying process.
These methods may also cause other health problems.

Patients who receive artificial feeding can experience shortness of breath, tube blockages, infections, discomfort, aspiration pneumonia, pressure ulcers, or swelling.
Some even feel “sinking” or “trapped.”

Studies show that artificial nutrition offers little benefit to hospice patients.
For example, tube-fed dementia patients live no longer than those slowly fed by hand.