Euthanasia: General Flashcards
What does DNR stand for?
Do Not Resuscitate
What is DNR?
A doctor is not required to resuscitate a person if their heart stops
It is designed to prevent unnecessary suffering
What are the usual circumstances for DNR?
When it will not restart the heart or breathing
When there is no benefit to the patient
When the benefits are outweighed by the burdens
What are the guidelines in the UK for DNR?
If the patients’s condition means resuscitation is unlikely to succeed
A mentally competent patient consistently stated or recorded their wishes for DNR
an advanced notice or living will from the patient to DNR
Successful resuscitation would not be in their best interest - poor quality of life after it
What is Palliative Care?
Keeping people pain-free by use of drugs which may leave them semi-conscious all the time
What is Pharmacological Oblivion?
Sometimes the only way of easing a person’s pain is to give them huge doses of pain killers which, in the end, may kill them anyway
This is sometimes done deliberately
What is the doctrine of double effect?
A doctrine that says that if doing something morally good has a morally bad side effect it’s ethically OK to do it providing the bad side-effect wasn’t intended (this is true even if you oversee that the bad side effect would probably happen)
What factors are involved in the doctrine of double effect?
The good result must be achieved independently of the bad one (i.e. the bad result must not be the means of achieving the good one)
The action must be proportionally to the cause (e.g. if the dosage of drugs certain to kill them is greater than the dosage of drugs needed to control their pain, you cannot justify it with the double effect)
The action must be appropriate (e.g. the right medicine to treat the problem)
The patient must be in terminal condition (e.g. you cannot give them pain-killing drugs if they have recovered)
What are the legislations in the UK about euthanasia?
Both euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal under English Law
Euthanasia is regarded as either manslaughter or murder and is punishable by law, with a maximum penalty up to life imprisonment
assisted suicide is illegal under the terms of the Suicide Act (1961) and is punishable up to 14 years imprisonment
What did the House of Lords do with the proposal to legalise euthanasia in 1933? What was their reasoning?
They rejected it
“It would be next to impossible to ensure that all acts of euthanasia were truly voluntary.”
Which countries have legalised euthanasia?
Netherlands Belgium Luxembourg US States of Oregon, Vermont, New Mexico, Montana Switzerland
