Pope Francis' Doctors Considered Stopping Treatment After Breathing Crisis

Pope Francis' medical team briefly considered suspending treatment after a 28 February breathing crisis but instead decided on an aggressive course that put his organs at risk, the doctor coordinating the pope's hospital care said in an interview published Tuesday.

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Dr. Sergio Alfieri said the 88-year-old pontiff and people close to him alike understood "that he might not survive the night," after the bronchospasm attack during which the pope inhaled vomit.

"We needed to choose whether to stop and let him go, or to push it and attempt with all of the possible drugs and the treatments, taking the very high risk of damaging other organs," Alfieri told the Milan daily Corriere della Sera. "In the end, that is the path we chose."