Moral Problem of Treatment of Dying Patient

Perhaps one should begin facing the dilemma proposed- eliminating two tube feedings, dehydration, and the withholding of other medical treatment from a dying patient- from the patient's side. "The right of the patient to direct his or her medical care and health outcome, known as patient autonomy, and the right of society to control and allocate 'limited resources', known as 'distributive justice', will certainly collide" (Guellec 1999 1). What Ms. Guellec describes in her essay is that the ethical and moral beliefs of society - especially the medical profession- has changed and is continuing to change. "According to Hiller (1986), six ethical principles are relevant for health care leaders. They are beneficence, non-malfeasance, respect for persons, justice, utility, and truth telling" (Guellec 1999 1). But, as she points out, this is all very theoretical and perhaps not the way the "real world"- patients and their families- see the need to keep a dying person alive, or, somehow, to withhold some medication or nutrition to permit a death with dignity.

"The moral principle of beneficence is one of the time-honoured ethical foundations of medical practice. . . this involves using specialized medical knowledge t

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Nutrition and hydration have long been considered to be life-sustaining therapies that are associated with comfort and relief of suffering. This belief is largely based on our own experiences with the sensations of thirst and hunger, which have led physicians to question whether withdrawing or withholding nutritional support form a dying patient can be morally or ethically justified (Winter 2000 723). It would seem only rational to put aside the moral and ethical question, when the court has decided that a patient with no chance of survival, or, in some instances, a comatose patient with no brain function who has no chance of returning to consciousness, can be deprived of nutrition with the consent of a family member. The UK now has a ruling on withholding nutrition: "In NHS Trust v. Bland (1993). . . the House of Lords held it lawful for a doctor to withhold tube-delivered food and fluids from his patient in a persistent vegetative stateaeven though this would cause death by dehydration. The most controversial aspect of the case was the further ruling by three of their Lordships that it was lawful even though the doctor's purpose was not merely to withdraw what he regarded as 'futile medical treatment' but was preci
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Some common words found in the essay are:
House Lords, Elger Chevrolet, Supreme Court, According Hiller, Medical Ethics, , Dr Kevorkian's, UK Cambridge, Ms Guellec, Community Health, london uk, ethics vol, london uk journal, uk journal, uk journal medical, journal medical, medical ethics vol, medical ethics, journal medical ethics, moral ethical, terminally ill, cantor 2001, ethics vol 28, williams 2000, dying patient,
Approximate Word count = 2145
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)

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