Care homes have been accused of putting elderly and infirm patients at risk by forcing them to be fitted with feeding tubes.
Many homes are said to be closing their doors to patients who do not have "nil by mouth" tubes inserted into their stomachs.
Although they claim to be acting in patients' interests, the real motive may be to cut costs and save on staffing, according to the authors of a report from the Royal College of Physicians.
The disclosure came as the College issued guidelines urging doctors and nurses to view artificial feeding as a "last resort".
An audit of 719 PEG procedures published in 2004 found 19% were "futile" and did nothing to prolong life.
The finding suggests large numbers of patients are being fed "nil by mouth" inappropriately.
A 2008 survey showed the previous year 39,000 people in the UK were artificially fed outside hospital, either at home or in residential care.
Dr Rodney Burnham, who co-chaired the working party that produced the guidelines, said increasing numbers of care homes were refusing to take patients not fitted with feeding tubes.
"We come down very strongly on any blanket refusal on those grounds," he said. "They may cite patient safety but there could be a hidden agenda on grounds of staffing or costs."
He was unable to say what proportion of homes imposed the PEG rule, but added: "It is fairly widespread, because every hospital and every nutrition team you talk to will have had that experience."
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