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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1990

The dilemma of withholding or withdrawing nutrition.

Recently, societal concerns have developed about the artificial prolongation of dying. Life extension is not always viewed as humanitarian. Artificial nutrition and hydration are seen frequently as necessary comfort measures and not merely life extenders. Now debate is rising about whether or not even these basic life support measures are not merely prolonging dying. In this paper, the issue of withholding or withdrawing nutrition and hydration from certain patients is discussed, including the competing ethical arguments, the nursing perspective and the implications of this dilemma for nursing, health care and society.

Beneficence↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Euthanasia.

The principles of self-determination and individual well-being support the use of voluntary euthanasia by those who do not have moral or professional objections to it. Opponents of this posture cite the ethical wrongness of the act itself and the folly of any public or legal policy permitting euthanasia. Positive consequences of making euthanasia legally permissible respect the autonomy of competent patients desiring it, expand the population of patients who can choose the option, and release the dying patient from otherwise prolonged suffering and agony. Potentially bad consequences of permitting euthanasia include the undermining of the "moral center" of medicine by allowing physicians to kill, the weakening of society's commitment to provide optimal care for dying patients, and, of greatest concern, the "slippery slope" argument. The evaluation of the arguments leads to support for euthanasia, with its performance not incompatible with a physician's professional commitment.

Beneficence↗
PubMed1991

Germ-line engineering: a few European voices.

We have surveyed various recent European opinions on germ-line engineering. The majority express more or less severe reservations about any interventions on the human germ-line, including therapeutic ones. However, they are divided over the pragmatic, or categorical-ethical nature of the relevant arguments. This split reflects two competing views of technology. The 'pessimistic' one is deeply concerned by the slippery slope leading from bona fide therapeutic applications of genetic engineering to eugenic practices. It insists that, if anything can defend us against these evils, it must be a set of strong, ethically-based prohibitions. The other, 'optimist' view is more confident in the discriminating powers of societal regulation. We argue for the latter view and suggest that the pragmatic arguments brought to this debate are less problematic than the ethical ones.

Advisory Committees↗
PubMed1989

Ethical constraints on rationing medical care by age.

In a statement published in this issue, the Public Policy Committee of the American Geriatrics Society endorses the view that chronological age should not be a criterion for exclusion of individuals from medical care. This article aims to amplify the Committee's position by placing it within a broader context and identifying its justification in ethical argument. The paper is divided into three parts. The first part clarifies the difference between allocation (the distribution of funds between categories) and rationing (the distribution of funds within a single category). It is argued that given the current allocation of funds to medical care, some form of rationing is unavoidable. As others have noted, rationing is already occurring in an informal and piecemeal fashion. However, ethically sound rationing requires publicly debated and defensible policies. The second section of the paper reviews a number of arguments advanced in favor of rationing medical care on the basis of age. Objections to these arguments are carefully set out. The final part of the paper details and defends a series of positive arguments establishing special duties to the elderly. The paper concludes that to the extent that scarcity forces rationing, older persons should not be excluded because they are old.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1991

Privacy (or liberty) and assisted suicide.

There is renewed professional and popular interest in the questions surrounding the legality of assisted suicide. With the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the Cruzan case, the legal questions will be determined by state courts and legislatures. This article examines the arguments underlying the claim for legalization of assisted suicide. Although it appears to come within the confines of privacy, assisted suicide constitutes a more radical change in the law than its proponents suggest. Assisted suicide in the context of its own complexities and other problems facing society, represents a dubious advance in patient rights or social justice.

Beneficence↗
PubMed1990

Moral intuition, good deaths and ordinary medical practitioners.

Debate continues over the acts/omissions doctrine, and over the concepts of duty and charity. Such issues inform the debate over the moral permissibility of euthanasia. Recent papers have emphasised moral sensitivity, medical intuitions, and sub-standard palliative care as some of the factors which should persuade us to regard euthanasia as morally unacceptable. I argue that these lines of argument are conceptually misdirected and have no bearing on the bare permissibility of voluntary euthanasia. Further, some of the familiar slippery slope arguments against voluntary euthanasia compromise the principle of autonomy to which both supporters and opponents of euthanasia adhere. I discuss a model for doctor/patient relationships which can be applied to cases which would be seen by all disputants as strong prima facie cases for euthanasia. I argue that in certain cases it will be ordinary medical practitioners who are duty-bound to assist death.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A good death: is euthanasia the answer?

Euthanasia--particularly active voluntary euthanasia--and assisted suicide are subjects of continuing controversy. Historical attitudes, current concerns, the situation in the Netherlands, and the positions of various medical associations are reviewed. Major arguments for and against active euthanasia are presented, with special consideration to the role that health care providers might be asked to perform should active euthanasia and assisted suicide be given societal sanction. The authors conclude that better pain management and A willingness to provide care within already established ethical and legal guidelines, not the legalization of active euthanasia and assisted suicide, are the appropriate responses to current proposals for assistance in dying.

Attitude↗
PubMed1989

Judicial postponement of death recognition: the tragic case of Mary O'Connor.

A recent New York Court of Appeals decision seriously impedes the ability of incompetent patients to control their medical care. In the case of Mary O'Connor, the court virtually eliminated an incompetent's rights to bodily integrity and privacy. The court relied on formalistic evidentiary arguments to vitiate the patient's refusal of death-prolonging treatment. This Case Comment examines both the doctrine and policy underlying the O'Connor decision, suggesting that the court erred in its holding and reasoning. An alternative framework is presented, arguing that courts should honor competently expressed patient decisions concerning medical treatment. New York's highest court, instead, posited an incompetent patient who becomes competent for a moment to render a decision. This legal fiction is nothing more than a thinly masked technique for imposition of the judges' values on the patient. This Case Comment argues that in the absence of clear direction from the patient, family and loved ones generally should make care decisions for the patient.

Aged↗
PubMed1992

Pediatric euthanasia.

Pediatric euthanasia is currently practiced in the Netherlands on newborns, infants, children, and adolescents, although exact numbers are not known. Euthanasia in the Netherlands is generally assumed to be active and voluntary, but some cases of pediatric euthanasia would have to be characterized as nonvoluntary. Much of the motivation behind the euthanasia movement and the performance of pediatric euthanasia in the Netherlands is a genuine, compassionate desire to alleviate pain and suffering. In this study, we review the Dutch experience, with particular attention to the current practice of euthanasia on newborns, infants, children, and adolescents. We discuss pediatric euthanasia from an ethical point of view. We assert that more effective pain control, better symptom management, and psychosocial support of the dying and their families would alleviate the perception of suffering, and reduce the perceived need to resort to euthanasia.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Prenatal screening for illegal drugs. Dilemma for the nurse-midwife.

Prenatal screening for illegal drugs poses very complex ethical problems for the nurse-midwife who must make the decision whether to screen for illegal drugs and whether to report positive results to state child abuse investigators. We argue that the results of prenatal screening for illegal drug use should not be used for determination of child abuse and that the nurse-midwife should not be required to report the results of these screens for illegal drugs to state child protection agencies. It is far from clear that required reporting offers any benefit to the fetus or future child, and there are serious ramifications of reporting for the fetus, the pregnant woman, and the nurse-midwifery profession. However, we do argue that prenatal screening for both illegal and legal drug use should be encouraged and should be done as early as possible in the pregnancy. Prenatal screening for drugs should only be used by the nurse-midwife as a diagnostic procedure wherein standard informed consent and confidentiality restraints are maintained.

Child Abuse↗
PubMed1989

Justice across the generations.

The title, 'justice across the generations', is reminiscent of expressions such as 'hands across the seas'. The latter is, of course, impossible in reality, but it symbolizes friendship between persons in far-flung lands. Is 'justice across the generations', likewise, no more than a hopeful metaphor, or is there, or at least should there be, some concrete reality to it? If so, what is, or should be, the substance of that reality? This text consists of some free association reflections, principally in the context of health care and mainly in the form of questions, on the concepts proclaimed in the title, namely, justice, across and generations, and what relevance these might have for our present and future societies.

Age Factors↗
PubMed1991

Euthanasia: the way we do it, the way they do it.

Although the Netherlands, Germany, and the United States are alike in having aging populations who die primarily of deteriorative diseases, they face end-of-life dilemmas quite differently. In the United States, withholding and withdrawing of treatment are the only legally recognized means for easing dying. In Holland, voluntary active euthanasia is also practiced; in (West) Germany, assisted suicide is a legal option, usually outside the medical setting. This paper examines objections to these three practices, and observes the differences in the background cultures. Rather than reliance on any of the three, it argues that physician-assisted suicide in terminal illness is the practice most compatible with the United States' special characteristics.

Attitude to Death↗