Hello I need help on answering this question. I've attached an answer sample. I need the response by 8/16/19. The response doesn't have to be more than 500 words. Differentiate between allowing a pa
MHA 622 Week 5 Discussion 1
Differentiate between allowing a patient to die and physician-assisted suicide.
Allowing a patient to die is when life-sustaining treatments and or therapies are withdrawn or withheld and the doctor does not cause the patient’s death but the patient succumbs to their condition (McGee, 2014). An example of this would be if a patient Dialysis patient refuses to receive further Dialysis treatments, or if a patient with Congestive Heart Failure went into cardiac arrest and was listed as a DNR and the patient was not defibrillated or CPR was withheld the patients previously listed would have died as a result of their disease process.
Physician-assisted suicide also known as PAS is defined as a physician directly contributing to a patient’s death by knowingly or intentionally giving a patient knowledge, means or both to commit the act (Lewis, 2017). An example of a physician contributing to a patient’s suicide would be through the administration of lethal drugs such as potassium, which can cause cardiac dysfunction and stop the heart or morphine which can decrease the respiratory drive and stop breathing.
The legal implications of the two concepts are as follows:
Allowing a patient to die is considered both medically and ethically appropriate in some situations. Patients have a right to refuse any medical treatment, even life-sustaining treatments such as Dialysis, mechanical ventilation, artificial hydration, nutrition or CPR. There are also minimal if any legal consequences or financial damages related to allowing patients to die if there’s specific documentation in place such as advance directives, DNR, Healthcare power of attorney or living will.
However Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) is illegal in all but 5 states and still, those five states must adhere to strict regulations that must be followed. PAS has been a long fought battle in the courts and remains highly controversial. Physicians in most states can be brought up on criminal charges based on malpractice, lose their license and be subject to financial damages.
The moral implications physicians have and why doctors are reluctant to abide by patient or family wishes to stop life support machines?
Most physicians have moral and ethical concerns about PAS; however, some also have apprehensions with allowing patients to die. Physicians would be willing to withhold treatment because they relate that to allowing patients to die from their disease but there are concerns about withdrawing treatment which some see as passively causing death. Physicians are reluctant to stop life support because they feel culpable and are hesitant to participate because they uphold the Hippocratic Oath which states to treat the ill to the best of one’s ability and do no harm (Lewis, 2017).
References:
Lewis, B. (2017). A Deliberate Departure: Making Physician-Assisted Suicide Comfortable for Vulnerable Patients. Arkansas Law Review (1968-Present), 70(1), 1-55.
McGee, A. (2014). DOES WITHDRAWING LIFE-SUSTAINING TREATMENT CAUSE DEATH OR ALLOW THE PATIENT TO DIE?. Medical Law Review, 22(1), 26-47.
