L02 - Moral Concern Flashcards
What is moral status?
Factors that determine:
1 - Who we deem to be worthy of our concern
2 - To whom we owe obligations or duties
What are the 6 grounds for moral concern?
1 - Humanity
2 - Autonomy
3 - Sentience
4 - Personhood/sapience
5 - Potentiality
6 - Patient
What is humanity?
Belief that all human life is sacred -> sanctity of life
What is autonomy?
The mental capacity to make independent decisions based on own thoughts -> free will
What is sentience?
Ability to feel painful/pleasurable stimuli
What is personhood/sapience?
The notion that being a person is not just a biological matter -> ability to have certain continuous mental states e.g. desires for future, rational thought
What is potentiality?
Latent qualities that serve as grounds for moral concern
Why is being a patient considered grounds for moral concern?
Doctors have a duty of care to all patients irrespective of philosophical status, grounded in professional duties & obligations
Define biological death.
Irreversible cardiopulmonary arrest
What is brainstem death?
A state in which the heart continues to beat but there is cessation of vital biological functions:
1 - Respiration
2 - Thermostasis
3 - Brain function
4 - Fluid balance
What is a minimally-conscious state?
Severely altered consciousness in which minimal but definite behavioural evidence of self or environmental awareness is demonstrated
What is therapeutic nihilism?
General aversion to the idea of keeping someone in a minimally-conscious state alive as a low number in a MCS make a full recovery
What are 5 characteristics of humanity?
1 - Language
2 - Reasoning
3 - Ownership of property
4 - Kinship
5 - Self-awareness
How does brainstem death differ from biological death?
Brain stem death is considered to be a form of biological death, despite the fact that the heart continues to beat
In which state are patients suitable as organ donors?
Brainstem death
Define biographical death.
Death of personhood
How does brainstem death differ biologically from a persistent vegetative state?
- In brainstem death, the brainstem is non-functional
- In a persistent vegetative state, the brainstem is functional, but the midbrain and cortex are non-functional. This means that all higher mental functions are lost but basic biological functions remain
How is a persistent vegetative state diagnosed?
Observe the following clinical signs for 6-12 months:
1 - No awareness of self or environment
2 - No response to visual, auditory, tactile or noxious stimuli
3 - No evidence of language comprehension
4 - Sleep / wake cycles maintained
Which imaging techniques can be used to help diagnose a persistent vegetative state?
PET scanning
List 3 conditions that might present as a persistent vegetative state.
1 - Minimal awareness state
2- Locked-in syndrome
3 - Guillain-Barré syndrome
How do the outcomes of a minimally conscious state compare to that of a persistent vegetative state?
There is more continuous improvement & significantly more favourable outcomes post-injury in a minimally-conscious state when compared with a vegetative state
List 4 clinical practices that are made difficult by using humanity as a moral ground for concern.
1 - Abortion
2- Euthanasia
3 - Withdrawal of life-saving treatment
4 - DNARs
