give any guidelines to a panel of doctors and hospital administrators grappling
ID: 129745 • Letter: G
Question
give any guidelines to a panel of doctors and hospital administrators grappling with such problems? 2 Terminally ill patients face the prospect of death within a relatively short period of time. In the case of cancer victims, their last months can be extremely painful. Increasing numbers of such patients consider taking their own lives, and much con- troversy has developed concerning euthanasia, or mercy killing. Imagine that a pa- tient is terminally ill and mentions that he or she is considering suicide. If every- thing reasonable has been done to arrest the disease without success, this may be a reasonable option. Furthermore, the principle of autonomy should be respected here, provided that the patient is mentally stable and sound and understands fully the implications. But how deeply should the physician or loved one be involved? There are varying degrees of involvement. First, the physician m vide counseling and emotional support. The next step would be encouraging the pa- tient by removing obstacles. Third, the physician might provide information about how to end one's life effectively and without trauma. The next step would be to as sist in the procurement of the means to commit suicide. Helping the patient to end his or her life represents still another step, and actually killing the patient-by lethal injection or removal of a life support system, for example-would represent ight simply pro- full involvement. Suppose that one of your loved ones were terminally ill and considering sui- cide. What issues would you want him or her to consider carefully? Draw an objec- tives hierarchy for the patient's decision.Explanation / Answer
Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. Also, I have applied a very logical approach. If you may wish to negate it with a different view, please feel free to change this response. This is a personal response hierarchy. Although the format of the decision hierarchy should help you organise your opinion well.
(Answer) Hierarchy based on the case-study:
Terminally Ill: Yes
Sound mind: Yes
Family support for euthanasia: Yes
Counselling for euthanasia: Complete
Legalities: Complete
The ethical dilemma, however, occurs in the clauses of:
Autonomy, full support (by medical staff) and family support.
Considering the argument of autonomy, the individual becomes completely responsible for oneself. This means that it is completely and solely the decision of the terminally ill patient with a sound mind. The patient, in this case, has decided to have them self, killed.
The very clause of autonomy nullifies the need for full support from the family or medical staff. If a patient wants to commit suicide in this case, then it is not for the doctors or family members to have their conscience encumbered by assisting in suicide. If a conscious patient decided to pull the plug on them self, then they should be able to support their personal decision with a determined action. If they are unable to do so, it simply turns into any other matter in life. If a couch-potato wants to lose weight, it would be illogical if his desires weren’t supported by the act of going to the gym or dieting.
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