So after my brother passed this was one of the things our family discussed with the palliative care doc and the therapist assigned to our family by the insuranc

So after my brother passed this was one of the things our family discussed with the palliative care doc and the therapist assigned to our family by the insurance company. The way it was explained do me, and take it or leave it as you will, was that while morphine can certainly end a life, in most end of life scenarios the morphine has two roles: it reduces pain and suffering, and it actually makes breathing easier (even while it depresses respiratory rate). In my brother's case it was her opinion that it actually extended his life. I'll never know if that was just what I was being fed, but my wife is an NP and has never shot that down, and she's not shy about correcting medical misconceptions.