Life or Death Who Has the Right to make the choice
An apparent 19-year-old male is brought to the emergency room by ambulance in respiratory failure related to end stage cystic fibrosis. The patient is accompanied by his girlfriend who states that the patient has a do not resuscitate (DNR) order. As the emergency room physician tries to contact the patients primary care physician he finds that the patient is under the care of a pediatrician, which makes him suspicious of the DNR request. He confronts the girlfriend about the patient's age because the patient is unable to communicate due to his respiratory condition. The girlfriend breaks down and admits that the patient is actually 17 years old. The physician immediately intubates the patient in an effort to stabilize his respiratory condition. The patient's respiratory condition is stabilized after a short time and he is extubated. The patient relates to his nurse that he does not want to be intubated again or placed on a respirator. The nurse relays this information to the physician who at this point does nothing. The patient's mother arrives at the emergency department and the physician explains the patient's condition and his request for a DNR order. His mother refuses to sign a DNR order and this information is explained to
As a final course of action the Egoistic approach is essentially the action that will be taken. If the mother refuses to comply with her sons wishes it will only be three weeks until he can take control of his own destiny. The right to refuse treatment is a personal and individual choice of every human being (Halliburton 1192). We have the innate right to choose what care we receive or do not receive. The age of this patient since so close to the legal age of consent is merely semantically both moral and legal. His desires are based on his quality of life. This is an issue that can only be addressed on an individual basis. No one can or has the right to determine what the best quality of life is for another. Cases of chronic terminal illness are heart breaking for all concerned, but until one actually lives with that illness the final outcome should be left to the afflicted individual. Gostin, L. O. Drawing a line between killing and letting die: The law, and reform, on medically assisted dying. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics. 1993, Vol. 21, 94-101 Contemporary Utilitarianism is divided into four basic principles, each principle will be used to analyze this dilemma. The first principle considers which action will provide the greatest happiness for the greatest number. As we look at the action in this case the patient should not be allowed to discontinue treatment because his mother and girlfriend do not wish for him to die. This action does not provide the greatest good and it appears that the patient loses by a vote of two to one. Halliburton C. S., Manning D. M., Olney R. S. Cystic fibrosis deaths in the United States from 1979 through 1991: An analysis using the multiple-cause mortality data. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. 1996, Vol. 150, 1181-1199 As an alternative to Contemporary Utilitarianism we can apply a purely Egoisti
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1263
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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