The very concept of individual rights is always complex, and even more so in the case of the right to die. While the Patient Self Determination Act ensures the patient the right to stop treatment, there is a serious moral and ethical question involved with whether the individual has the right to entangle the lives and careers of others in what they perceive to be the right to die. The controversy last year over whether to withdraw a feeding tube from a thirty-nine-year-old Florida woman with severe brain damage has forced questions regarding end-of-life decisions into the limelight once again. That debate had been intensified by divergent opinions about the woman’s possibility of rehabilitation and by doubts raised about her husband’s motivation in wishing not to prolong her life. The complexities of that case, however, should not be allowed to bias public response to a somewhat different but no less urgent ethical question: What is the most humane way to treat individuals who, at the end of a long life, express a clear-minded wish to die? In this case, the husband expressed that his wife would not want to be artificially sustained, however the patient’s family pursued legal avenues to keep her alive. The battle involved the courts, the Florida Legislature and Gov. Jeb Bush. Terry Schiavo died on March 31, 2005 at the Pinellas Park hospice where she lay for years while her husband and her parents fought over her fate in the nation’s most bitter – and most heavily litigated – right-to-die dispute. This case reaffirmed my advocacy for everyone to have a health care Proxy in place.
The Term Paper on Biocon – Case Assignment Questions
1. Assuming Biocon receives approval for BIOMAb, should it launch the drug immediately or conduct phase 3 trials before launch? Elaborate the various elements of your action plan. If Biocon receives approval for BIOMAb, the management team will need to carefully consider what the best course of action is moving forward. If the company elects to launch the drug immediately, they will be able to ...
There was a time when patients and their families left every aspect of their health care in the hands of their physicians with faith that was near to their faith in God. At the beginning of the 21st century, medical technology has so far outstripped the norms of society that the end of life is no longer certain, nor is the quality of the end of a life, if and when it does occur. With more and more patients having to endure longer and more painful treatments for life-threatening diseases, it was inevitable that many would want to stop treatment and die with what they perceive to be their dignity left intact. Unfortunately, unless these patients actually commit suicide alone, they are asking family members and health care professionals to assist them in the dying process, either passively, by withholding treatment, or actively, by providing them with the means to end their lives.
The Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA) was enacted in 1990 and went into effect in 1991. This law gives patients the right to make end of life decisions for themselves and requires hospitals to give them the information and forms they need to do so. On the surface of it, this seems to be a straightforward law. Hospitals, physicians, and nurses know exactly where they stand and what the law requires of them. Yet, 25% of the respondents to a survey in RN recently reported that they have seen healthcare providers deliberately disregard the advance directives of patients and more than half of the ICU/CCU nursing respondents claim that they have witnessed such occurrences (Tammelleo, 2000).
This places nurses in a very difficult position with respect to requirements under the Patient Self-Determination Act, with respect to insubordination issues, and with respect to their professional roles as both patient educator and advocate. It also spells serious legal trouble for physicians and hospitals. Yet, at all levels, physicians and other health care providers are asking what is to be done for them, if their own moral and professional codes of ethics prohibit their participation in the death of a patient. This is an especially serious issue when their licenses to practice are in jeopardy.
The Essay on The most important decision in my life
There will be a lot of important decisions in our life and we need to consider them deliberately before making a choice. Some decisions can change our entire life. I will never forget how hard it was to make the decision to marry my husband, and that rash decision was such a challenge for me. At that time, I was just a spoiled child, still reliant on my parents. Yet, my rebellious nature told me ...
The Patient Self-Determination Act is designed to make patients better informed about many of their rights regarding treatment decisions. It underscores the role and importance of patient participation in healthcare decisions by clearly identifying the parameters of their decision-making authority. Perhaps its most important feature is the emphasis which it places on the responsibility of patients for the direction which their healthcare takes. In the current climate of healthcare much has been made of the obligations of healthcare professionals and the rights of patients. Little discussion has been centered on the responsibility of patients. The result of the Patient Self-Determination Act can be a focused interest on patient’s taking responsibility for the course of their healthcare decisions. The hope is that enlightened and prudent patients, guided by sound assistance in reflecting on their conditions, alternatives, and possibilities will make realistic decisions, within the context of their personal values. These decisions will then take the form of approaches to treatment which will truly benefit them and allow them to achieve their goals.
