Case Study: Georgia Euthanasia

Secondly, the patient should be capable of making and communicating health care decisions for him or herself. Thirdly, the patient must be diagnosed with a terminal illness that will lead to death within six months.  Interested patients must also provide the request for termination in writing to the physician. In addition, physicians are expected to inform patients to alternative means of care including hospice care and other medications. Only after precautions evaluation, the laws then permit patients to make the ultimate life ending decision.

.“As medical technology continues to advance and health care choices become more complicated, the preservation of end-of-life autonomy is an increasingly important issue faced by various client populations.” (Galambos, 1998).

Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal focuses on patients and their end of life care. On a visit to Lou Sanders, Gawande asked, “What makes life worth living to you?” and Lou hesitated before answering, “I have moments when I would say I think it’s time, maybe one of the days when I was at a low point…” As people near death, they have this innate fear of dying where they may want to have every intervention possible. However, patients nearing the end of their life due to medical issues often have clouded judgment and may not be in a position to determine what step they want to take next or may even be a minor, legally unable to make decisions. In any case, family members or a guardian of the patient should be responsible for making end of life decisions for the patient.

With an increasing aging population and growing numbers of individuals with chronic conditions, it is important for individuals to prepare for end-of-life care. An Advance Directive is a defined as a “legal document that provides data to critical care staff about patients’ wishes, especially when critical illness decreases decision-making ability” (McAdam, Stotts, Padilla, and Puntillo, 2005). An Advance Directive also allows for better communication between the patient and doctor, and preserves the autonomy of patients. It may also alleviate one’s family from any possible burden of uncertainty of one’s wishes. It provides guidance, which may avert arguments with family members concerning treatment choices (Cedars Sinai, 2015). The Patient

“The final moments of one’s life are difficult for everyone involved-the patient, loved ones, and even the healthcare provider” (Klein, 2005). If a patient’s final wishes regarding his/her care are undefined or not clear, then the situation could be worse or uncomfortable. During what should be a time of caring, mourning and supporting one another can quickly become overshadowed by ethical and legal battles. However, this can be prevented and avoided by the execution of advanced directives.

Since Oregon legalized physician assisted suicide for the terminally in 1977, more than 700 people have taken their lives with prescribed medication, including Brittany Maynard (NPR Staff, 2014). After, months of suffering from debilitating headaches, 29 year old Brittany Maynard learned that she had brain cancer (Maynard, 2014). Because her tumor was so large, doctors prescribed full brain radiation. With this treatment, the hair on her scalp would have been singed off, her scalp would be left covered with first-degree burns, and her quality of life would be gone (Maynard, 2014). Brittany began to research death with dignity, an end-of-life option for mentally competent, terminally ill patients with a prognosis of six months or less to live.

There are many situations that cause ethical dilemmas in the scope of nursing practice. One such situation that is encountered repeatedly is that in which a patient has no living will or advance directive to designate when extraordinary life saving measures will be stopped and the patient will be allowed to die. This becomes a dilemma in many cases because there is so much uncertainty in outcomes for individuals. This uncertainty stems from

End of life decisions are very important because in some cases people lose the ability to provide informed consent for their medical treatment. If someone was unable to make his or her own health care decisions it becomes the responsibility of his or her designated surrogate. For example when someone is pronounced in a persistent vegetative state their health care surrogate would determine what kind of life prolonging procedures should be provided. During some point throughout a person’s lifetime it’s significant they make a Living Will that lists all of their intentions that will be respected by their family, friends and physicians. I chose to write about this topic because I recently created my own Living Will and had it signed by witnesses and documented incase I become incapacitated to express what treatment I want.

This film explains the legal role of advance directives in end of life issues. An advance directive is “a written document directing how medical decisions are to be made in the future when the patient lacks decisional capacity and is unable to decide and choose” (Hanlon, End of Life Issues, Slide 28, Bullet 1). All three of the cases demonstrate the importance in filling out some form of directive. When there is nothing to go off of, it makes decisions extremely tough for families and medical providers. Having legal documentation of patient wishes helps understand what treatments they would or would not consent to. In cases like

An issue facing much of today’s elderly and terminally ill populations is that of euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. Several countries, most notably the Netherlands, has legalized euthanasia and physician assisted suicide leading to what is now referred to as “death tourism”. People from across the world are traveling to place with legalized euthanasia, like the Netherlands, in order to end their lives through assisted suicide.

It’s been 4 months since the car crash that has caused your husband to become brain dead. He is on a machine that is breathing for him and you know that he is in a great deal of pain. You keep asking for the doctors to pull the plug or give him meds to ease him into death, but euthanasia isn’t allowed where you live. Euthanasia is important because it will cause a lower amount of people who are suffering and in pain. Euthanasia should be legal in Indiana to end the suffering of terminally ill patients that are in unbearable pain and to leave the family of the person with less medical bills to pay. The first thing that needs to be done is the legalization of it.

When caring for a terminally ill patient, each member of the health care team contributes in providing end-of-life (EOL) care. In order to know our role in the care, it is important to understand the legal rights of the patient. In 1991, the United States legislated the Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA) in regards to EOL decision-making. According to our textbook, the PDSA “relies on state laws related to EOL care and was designed to encourage communication about end of life issues” (Grace, 2013, p. 123). This act helps ensure that patients receive adequate information regarding advanced directives and offers protection of their right to self-determination in health care decisions (K, 1992).

Euthanasia has always been a conflict of interest since the beginning of time. It depends on whether or not one shall live or die. Euthanasia should not be legal in the United States because it is explicitly inhumane. Medical professions believe that it is unethical for them to “pull the plug,” it is closely related to murder, and denies the civil and human rights of mankind.

The recommendation I am suggesting would include a singed “Do Not Resuscitate-DNR” agreement from Margie Whitson. Her legal guardian notified of her request and Hospice be contacted. This would be in leu of a possible health issues that would arise in the future. And with this in place, her wishes can be granted. Margie Whitson has lived a long full filled life and all of her family is deceased. She has come to terms with all the setbacks in her life and now wishes to just stop her suffering.

Such a controversial topic as euthanasia and physician assisted suicide obviously brings about both proponents and opponents. When it comes to the case of a terminally ill person who is fully competent, how can one say no to his desire in having