To examine comfort medication (CM) and noncomfort (NC) medication use in inpatients comanaged by palliative care (PC) near the end of life.

Chart review of inpatients comanaged by the PC service at 2 academic hospitals. Medications were categorized as CM and NC medication according to the published guidelines.

Seventy patients met inclusion criteria. In the final week of life, inpatients were receiving a mean of 6 CM (40 doses) and 7 NC medications (41 doses). Four new NC medications were started per patient, but only 3 were discontinued. The NC medications were most frequently discontinued on the day of PC consult, but 14% were stopped on the day of death/PC unit transfer.

Inpatients comanaged by PC continue to receive NC medications as they near the end of life.