The topic that I will be doing my research paper on is euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. The book I read was Five Days at Memorial by Sheri Fink. This book was about the decisions made coming up to and during Hurricane Katrina at the Memorial Medical Center. Poor decisions regarding safety regulations at the hospital made it unprepared to deal with the disaster that was about to hit New Orleans. The patients who were reliant on life saving machines seemed that they would not be able to be safely evacuated and their evacuation risked others lives. A couple of other patients were unable to be evacuated as well due to various other complications such as age and weight. Some of the staff decided that they were not going to leave anyone behind in the hospital and took preemptive measures just in case that they would not be able to be evacuated; the patients were euthanized.
This book gave insights into end of life decisions and really made me question my own ethical values. In this situation, those that were euthanized were only killed to prevent the patients from further harm and suffering. However, this goes directly against the Hippocratic Oath because the physicians were intentionally doing harm to their patients. In killing their patients, the physicians break their oaths but prevent the patients from experiencing more suffering and almost definite death during their extraction from the hospital. Those euthanized were unable to communicate so there is no way of truly knowing what their decision would have been. If the patients were able to communicate, should they have the right to decide if they would rather be euthanized or risk the extraction? Also, should the physicians break their oaths to follow the patients wishes?
Ryan,
ReplyDeleteEuthanasia is a very important matter to me. I'm impressed that you chose to focus on this issue. It is not an uncommon belief to consider it a paradox in the medical world, especially when considering the mental well-being of a patient and the degenerative nature of some diseases. Perhaps an exploration as to what it means to properly communicate or be of the right state of mind in making such a decision is in order? Also, have you considered why? Why is euthanasia such a taboo topic? Why do we consider it so important to cling to life, even if the remainder of that life is filled with pain and a possible loss of identity? The decision mentioned in the book seems to have been made as the result of sparing people other than those who were euthanized. If it was considered acceptable when it affected others, why is it not considered so in other situations, where the other affected people include the family? I look forward to hearing about the progression of you paper.
Ryan,
ReplyDeleteEuthanasia is an extremely interesting issue, filled with complications and strong opinions on both sides. It is a very difficult matter to discuss in a brief research paper, but I'm confident that you can do it, you'll just have to hone in on a certain area of it. Should it be legal or not and why? Should it be decided case to case? Is that even possible, given the number of potential cases? The possibilities of where to take the paper are immense. The one thing I will caution against is allowing your own opinion on euthanasia to influence the research portion of the process - it is possible to reflect your ideas on the issue through the paper, but do not allow it to violate your research in any way. I personally find the most interesting part of the argument to be the part surrounding the issue of whether mentally ill patients should be allowed to ask for euthanasia or if their families should be allowed to make that decision for them. I am very excited to see where you take the paper and what your personal opinions may be regarding the issue. Good luck!
Ryan,
ReplyDeleteI never would have thought of a topic like this one! I think it's a very interesting and unique topic that will bring up a lot of questions. I feel as though there are many ways to connect this idea to the texts we've read, and I'm interested in seeing the path you take. Euthanasia is definitely a moral topic and can be connected to religious beliefs as well. I think that looking at how different cultures view this topic might be an interesting idea? I can see you taking this research topic many different ways, and I think that even discussing this as a class would be an interesting conversation. Im excited to read the rest of your blog posts to see where you take this paper!