Class 8 - Workshop 2 (MAID) Flashcards
Is turning off an LVAD or a similar device like a pacemaker, the same as physician assisted death?
NO
is withdrawing Tx the same as initiating a Tx?
The general rule is that a patient who is competent has the right to withdraw any Tx, the same as they have a right not to start a Tx in the first place.
Many ethicists believe that withdrawing Tx should be an easier decision to defend than not starting a Tx to begin with. After all, if you are stopping a Tx it means at least the patient gave it a shot to find out if it will work or not before deciding against it. If you don’t start the Tx to begin with, you are not even giving it a chance to work.
Podcaster admits this turns out to be a very hypothetical, philosophical, analytic way of thinking.
Why it is emotionally much harder for us to decide to stop a Tx than it is to decide to not start it, in the real world?
He believes it is because not starting a Tx seems passive, we’re just standing back and letting the natural disease take its course.
Once a treatment plan has begun, it feels more activeto stop it. Making an active decision that is likely to result in someone dying is much more gut wrenching, no matter how we philosophy it.
Is either stopping a Tx or not starting one equal to physician assisted death?
NO
Religious view’s discussed in Hard Call podcast episode 3
Catholics look at benefits vs burdens
Just because someone is in pain does not mean their life should end
The woman thinks that in this case the benefits outweigh the burdens
The physician believes that the code transcends the religious beliefs of the physician, he focuses on pt’s values instead of their own
