Bioethics: Patient's Rights

Paper Summary:

This paper is an analysis of the essay "Whose body is it anyway?" by Atul Gawande that discusses the ethical dilemma that physicians face when making end of life decisions for their patients or facing patients who have unrealistic ideas about resuscitative techniques. Literature is cited that discusses reasons for the issue including communication problems, high emotional levels of family members and such.

From the Paper:

"In 1990 the US Supreme Court rendered a decision about end of life decisions relative to those who were incapable of making decisions about their treatment and in need of life-sustaining aid (Doukas). Doukas goes on to state the decision was so profound that the Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA) was written into law. The PSDA requires "hospitals, nursing homes and health care programs to ask patients about advance directives and then incorporate the information into medical records." There are various forms of advance directives, such as the living will, which provides for specific conditions and associated treatments that should or should not be administered in the case the patient is unable to communicate (Doukas). The other form is a durable power of attorney. In spite of the PSDA, questions remain about the competing interests..."

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