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1 of 1- Siagiah
- Administrator
Offline - From: New England, U.S.A.
- Registered: 2/16/2019
- Posts: 2,619
Medical Ethical Quandary to ponder
You are a doctor and one of your patients, who opposes euthanasia on religious grounds, begs you to do whatever is necessary to stop his severe, chronic pain.
The level of drugs needed to relieve the pain will almost certainly kill the patient in short order. The patient recognizes this but still wants the pain stopped.
The ethical beliefs of the patient prohibit euthanasia. Those beliefs are well known to his family and friends, and yet you are being begged by him to participate in actions likely having the same outcome as euthanasia.
The volume of drugs you'll be giving him could possibly subject you to accusations of assisted suicide if another medical professional was to review his chart or an autopsy is performed after his likely death.
IOW, you are unfairly being asked to challenge your own conscience, medical ethics, and reputation in order to relieve the patient's conscience. At the same time, you recognize how severe your patient's pain actually is and that it will continue to worsen until the day he dies.
What do you do ??
- Christopher Blackwell
- Newbie
Offline
- Registered: 11/24/2024
- Posts: 6
Re: Medical Ethical Quandary to ponder
Actually, doctors have overdosed patients in severe suffering, including some rich and powerful. As you suggest there is both legal danger, and career endangerment in doing so if it is found out. Again, it is a hard decision to make either way. I would lean more to the patient's desire to end the pain and suffering. But I would also tell any doctor to not resurrect me if the body dies, as a few more years of poor health and future suffering seems like a bad choice in my opinion.