Who is Worthy of Moral Concern? Flashcards
Define moral status.
Factors that determine:
1 - Who we deem to be worthy of our concern.
2 - To whom we owe obligations or duties.
List the 6 grounds for moral concern.
1 - Humanity.
2 - Sentience.
3 - Autonomy.
4 - Personhood.
5 - Potentiality.
6 - Patient.
List 5 characteristics of humanity.
1 - Language.
2 - Reasoning.
3 - Ownership of property.
4 - Kinship.
5 - Self-awareness.
Define sentience.
The ability to experience pleasure or pain.
Define autonomy.
The ability to make a choice independently.
Define personhood.
The ability to have continuous mental states such as desires for the future and rational thought.
Define potentiality.
Latent qualities that serve as grounds for moral concern.
Why is being a patient considered grounds for moral concern?
Because a doctor has a duty of care over the patient, therefore grounds for concern is founded in a doctor’s professionalism.
Define biological death.
Irreversible cardiopulmonary arrest.
Define brain stem death.
A state in which the heart continues to beat but there is cessation of:
1 - Respiration.
2 - Thermostasis.
3 - Brain function.
4 - Fluid balance.
How does brain stem 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 is most organ donation done?
During brain stem death.
Define biographical death.
Death of personhood.
How does brain stem death differ biologically from a persistent vegetative state?
- In brain stem death, all of the midbrain and cortex is dead and most of the brain stem is dead.
- In a persistent vegetative state, all of the midbrain and cortex is dead but the brain stem is functional. This means that all higher mental functions are lost but basic biological functions remain.
Describe the method of diagnosis for persistent vegetative state.
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 - Minimally conscious state.
2 - Locked-in syndrome.
3 - Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Define minimally conscious state.
A condition of severely altered consciousness in which minimal but definite behavioural evidence of self or environmental awareness is demonstrated.
How do the outcomes of a minimally conscious state compare to that of a persistent vegetative state?
Minimally conscious states have a more continuous improvement and significantly more favourable outcomes post-injury when compared with a persistent vegetative state.
Define therapeutic nihilism.
Aversion to the idea of keeping someone in a minimally conscious state alive.
List 4 clinical practices that are made difficult by using humanity as a moral ground for concern.
1 - Abortion.
2 - Euthanasia.
3 - WIthdrawal or life-saving treatment.
4 - DNR orders.
