End of Life Case Study
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Do you agree with the original court or the court of appeals?
The first medical institution where Ms. B was admitted was supposed to agree and respect the patient’s wishes and the wishes of her family as well. The family was supported by the court of Appeal because medical practitioners are expected not to go against the wishes of their patients (Bone et al., 2018). In this case, I accept and support the decision made by the court of appeal with regards to supporting the decision made by the family.
What kind of ethical theories was the hospital one acting upon?
Hospital 1 made use of the theory of beneficence of doing good. The medical practitioners in this medical institution did not want to let the patient die or inflict any kind of harm to their client by getting her out of the ventilator.
What kind of ethical theories was hospital 2 acting upon?
Medical practitioners in the second hospital embraced the principle of malfeasance. They would rather cause harm to the client so that further injury would be prevented. According to them, this action would be good for the client as they never caused harm to her on intentional grounds (Bone et al., 2018). Therefore, they got her out of the ventilator so that her suffering could be ended.
How did the family act in this ethical realm?
The family’s response was good in the case of their patient. In deciding how a patient decides to end their life, families should play a role in ensuring their patient’s wishes are honored. This responsibility comes in handy, especially in the case of patients who are incapacitated (Bone et al., 2018). They take responsibility for making assumptions for the patient because of the association they have.
Did you find that the result of this case was fair to Ms. B and her family?
The family received support from the court of Appeal because their presence had been initially presented to the initial medical institution, where Ms. B was admitted (Finucane et al., 2018). As a result, supporting the family by the court was fair since the information provided by the family concerning their patient’s condition can be utilized in making a decision on the nature of the patient’s death.
Why is it so important that one put in writing their exact wishes to the nature of their death
and how they envision it should be?
When it comes to making medical care choices, people are advised to document their decisions in writing so that should any form of incompetence arise in future, or should any terminal sickness associated with it arise; the court can find it easy to come in and judge fairly. According to the case study, Ms. B only made her wishes at a nurse’s witness but didn’t put it in writing (Finucane et al., 2018). When the petition was filed against the hospital concerning the case, the hospital claimed that there was no existing documentation that the patient wanted to die. Lack of evidence on such a case made the patient and her family member lose the case in the first court.
Documentation of critical matters such as health matters is significant as it may be used in future references. Before a patient is put to surgery, the first of all need to append their signatures on a document that will act as evidence of their approval (Bossaert et al., 2015), this way, should anything go wrong, judgment will take its course and point towards a good direction.
I, therefore, support the decision made by the second court since it decided that the patient’s family won the case. The fact that the family stated that they knew what their patient wanted at first gives them credibility regarding the argument. Medical institutions should, therefore, respect the wishes of their patients no matter their patient’s conditions. It becomes difficult to let a patient succumb to death, especially when there is something the hospital can do to save their life. However, a patient has a complete right on whether they prefer the medication or not.
References
Bone, A. E., Gomes, B., Etkind, S. N., Verne, J., Murtagh, F. E., Evans, C. J., & Higginson, I. J. (2018). What is the impact of population aging on the future provision of end-of-life care? Population-based projections of place of death. Palliative medicine, 32(2), 329-336.
Bossaert, L. L., Perkins, G. D., Askitopoulou, H., Raffay, V. I., Greif, R., Haywood, K. L., … & Lippert, F. K. (2015). European Resuscitation Council Guidelines for Resuscitation 2015: Section 11. The ethics of resuscitation and end-of-life decisions.
Finucane, A. M., Carduff, E., Lugton, J., Fenning, S., Johnston, B., Fallon, M., … & Murray, S. A. (2018). Palliative and end-of-life care research in Scotland 2006–2015: a systematic scoping review. BMC palliative care, 17(1), 19.