Final Exam Case Study Josephine Stewart

487 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Ethical issues surrounding euthanasia

Angel Zuleta
Final Exam: Case Analysis
Josephine Stewart is a 78 year old female with a history of diabetes, painful arthritis, and heart arrhythmia so severe that she needed to have a pacemaker inserted. Josephine was diagnosed with non-small lung cancer (NSCLC) with lymph node metastasis which makes her ineligible for surgical resection. After undergoing multiple failed chemotherapy treatments Josephine decides she no longer wants to pursue continuing chemo treatment. She also decided to stop all life preserving treatments including her pacemaker.
In Josephine’s defense I would not consider her choice of stopping chemotherapy or removing her pacemaker euthanasia. She is simply discontinuing a treatment that is causing her continued pain and suffering. Her pacemaker is only adding to the prolonged suffering that her body can no longer endure. In her defense one could argue that her pace maker is a foreighn device in her body that when removed is not the cause of death but rather her tired body and heart would be the cause of her death. …show more content…

He believes this act would be a pure act of euthanasia. In his defense knowingly removing a device that is keeping someone alive is killing them. As a physician he is pro life so by removing this device and causing Joesphines death would be the opposite of his beliefs and what he stands for. Even though this potential killing is voluntary by the patients choice the physician now becomes a part of this killing. “To morally justify euthanasia & physican assisted suicide, both the physician and the patient must show how the killing makes their lives good, or at least less worse than other options and it is never enough for the physician to justify his role in causing death by saying it was done at the patients request.” (Deverttere, 2016,

Show More
Related

  • T. Paulette Sutton Case Study Worksheet

    367 Words  | 1 Pages

    T. Paulette Sutton is one of the world’s leading experts in bloodstains and is the former Assistant Director of Forensic Services and Director of Investigations at the University of Tennessee, Memphis. She has been involved in nationally known murder cases and has worked hard during her long career to make a position contribution to the legal system. Sutton says, “Its best for my fellow man that we get the killers off the street.” Since 2006 Sutton has been officially retired but continues to teach, consult, and testify about her area of expertise.

    Read More

  • Case Study: Rosa Lee Cunningham's Case

    1252 Words  | 3 Pages

    Rosa Lee Cunningham is a 52-year old African American female. She is 5-foot-1-inch, 145 pounds. Rosa Lee is married however, is living separately from her husband. She has eight adult children, Bobby, Richard, Ronnie, Donna (Patty), Alvin, Eric, Donald (Ducky) and one child who name she did not disclose. She bore her eldest child at age fourteen and six different men fathered her children. At Rosa Lee’s recent hospital admission to Howard University Hospital emergency room blood test revealed she is still using heroin. Though Rosa Lee recently enrolled in a drug-treatment program it does not appear that she has any intention on ending her drug usage. When asked why she no longer uses heroin she stated she doesn’t always have the resources to support her addiction. Rosa Lee is unemployed and receiving very little in government assistance. She appears to

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Physician Assisted Suicide

    1385 Words  | 3 Pages

    Imagine a family member being extremely ill and suffering from day to day. When they decide they cannot take the pain any more, would you want them to pull through for you or would you fulfill their dying wish and let the doctor pull the plug? Could you even make a decision? Many people would not allow such an event to happen because with all the pain and confusion the patient is enduring may cause confusion and suicidal tendencies. However, there are people who believe otherwise. This is called physician-assisted suicide. Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) is a controversial topic that causes much debate. Though it is only legal in the three states Oregon, Washington and Montana, there are many people who are for it and think it can be necessary. Even with morals put aside, Physician-assisted suicide should be illegal because it will be a huge violation of the oath every doctor must abide by, there would be no real way to distinguish between people who are suffering and the people who are faking or depressed, and it causes a lot of confusion to people with new diseases or new strands of disease that does not have a clear cure.

    Read More

  • Janet Mock Case Study

    1768 Words  | 4 Pages

    Understanding one another starts with understanding the various social intersections that make up our identities. Intersectionality, a concept developed by Kimberlé Crenshaw, analyzes how aspects of social location (gender, race, class, age, etc.) intersect and are linked, thereby creating multiple identities that relate to systems of oppression and marginalization (Carbado, Crenshaw, Mays, & Tomlinson, 2013). In this paper, the theme of intersectional identity will be explored using Janet Mock’s (2014) story as a case study, based off her book, Redefining Realness. Moreover, there will

    Read More

  • The Case Study of Amanda Anderson

    2058 Words  | 5 Pages

    The primary diagnosis for Amanda Anderson is separation anxiety disorder (SAD) with a co-morbidity of school phobia. Separation anxiety disorder is commonly the precursor to school phobia, which is “one of the two most common anxiety disorders to occur during childhood, and is found in about 4% to 10% of all children” (Mash & Wolfe, 2010, p. 198). Amanda is a seven-year-old girl and her anxiety significantly affects her social life. Based on the case study, Amanda’s father informs the therapist that Amanda is extremely dependent on her mother and she is unenthusiastic when separated from her mother. Amanda was sitting on her mother’s lap when the therapist walked in the room to take Amanda in her office for an interview (Morgan, 1999, p. 1).

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Physician Assisted Suicide

    1112 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many convincing and compelling arguments for and against Physician Assisted Suicide. There are numerous different aspects of this issue, including religious, legal and ethical issues. However, for the purpose of this paper, I will examine the ethical concerns of both sides. There are strong pro and con arguments regarding this, and I will make a case for both. It is definitely an issue that has been debated for years and will continue to be debated in years to come.

    Read More

  • Thomas Sullivan's Views On The Permissibility Of Euthanasia

    1401 Words  | 3 Pages

    Euthanasia is a serious political, moral and ethics issues in society. People either strictly forbid or firmly favor euthanasia. Terminally ill patients have a fatal disease from which they will never recover, many will never sleep in their own bed again. Many beg health professionals to “pull the plug” or smother them with a pillow so that they do not have to bear the pain of their disease so that they will die faster. Thomas D. Sullivan and James Rachels have very different views on the permissibility of active and passive euthanasia. Sullivan believes that it is impermissible for the doctor, or anyone else to terminate the life of a patient but, that it is permissible in some cases to cease the employment of “extraordinary means” of preserving

    Read More

  • A Tender Hand In The Presence Of Death

    796 Words  | 2 Pages

    In A Tender Hand in the Presence of Death, Heather, the nurse, would put in IVs and feeding tubes in hopes of prolonging hospice care even when they were ineffective in order to give more time to the families who were having trouble letting go (MacFarquhar, 2016). In my personal situation, I can relate, as two of my grandparents have passed away from cancer and suffered for a long time before passing. Although it was incredibly sad and our families bargained for more time, there was some peace in knowing that the suffering had come to an end once they passed. For our own selfish reasons, we want as much time as possible with our loved ones who are suffering and close to death, but in reality, the decision for assisted suicide should only concern the individual whose life it

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Doctor Turns To Kevorkian

    1140 Words  | 3 Pages

    If the circumstances of the case of Dr. Khalili are examined and judged by the utilitarianism approach it would not be a crime, in fact it would become legislation that one could chose to ends one’s on life with the assistance of a trusted medical professional to relieve the pain, suffering and unhappiness associated with an incurable illness, or any illness or painful situation that would reduce the quality of one’s life and cause pure unhappiness.

    Read More

  • Physician Assisted Suicide: An Ethical Dilemma

    1581 Words  | 4 Pages

    Ethical decisions are being made by terminally ill patients as they face death. Some are choosing to end life through PAS, physician-assisted suicide. Dr. Jack Kevorkian has been helping patients end life through his machines. The public opinion is the use of this machine is considered murder, but some have changed their thinking and created laws to make it legal for a physician to help a terminally ill patient die. Physician assisted suicide is a dignified way to end life.

    Read More

  • Mary Reilly Case Study

    708 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mary’s father locks her in a room full of rats. Dr. Jekyll has been the good side where as his double is Mr. Hyde that creates all of the violence. Mr. Hyde haunts Mary as an adult by biting her neck. When Hyde bites her neck, Mary reacts with the same plea she made with her father. The quote was “Please sir, do not do this” (6). Another aspect is that Mary calls Dr. Jekyll “The Master”. Dr. Jekyll is always in charge of Mary even though in the novel it doesn’t say it, but as the reader, I could infer that he was a Master and in control of Mary whereas also Mary’s father could be referred to as “The Master”. My reasoning behind this is that Mary’s Father was very violent and abuse to Mary and was in charge of her as a child.

    Read More

  • The Right to Die with Dignity: Physician Assisted Suicide

    777 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... offered to help only under different circumstances. Although the Dr. was willing to assist Mr. Hall, he was not willing to risk prosecution under the current law. “He defends assisted suicide for patients whose lives doctors cannot make tolerable”. ''My responsibility to the patient is to do what's in his best interest,'' Dr. McIver said in an interview. ''Usually his best interest is to live. But when it is to die, isn't it my responsibility to help him die?'' (Navarro)

    Read More

  • Medical Ethics

    776 Words  | 2 Pages

    Physician-assisted suicide refers to the physician acting indirectly in the death of the patient -- providing the means for death. The ethics of PAS is a continually debated topic. The range of arguments in support and opposition of PAS are vast. Justice, compassion, the moral irrelevance of the difference between killing and letting die, individual liberty are many arguments for PAS. The distinction between killing and letting die, sanctity of life, "do no harm" principle of medicine, and the potential for abuse are some of the arguments in favor of making PAS illegal. However, self-determination, and ultimately respect for autonomy are relied on heavily as principle arguments in the PAS issue.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of A Crime Of Compassion By Barbara Huttman

    1211 Words  | 3 Pages

    This further supports the idea that although court cases have not approved of physician assisted suicide, the right to die is a person’s right. Furthermore, the article continues to explain that the right-to-die law is not the same as physician assisted suicide. The right to die is when a person refuses more life sustaining treatment, while PAS is when a physician is giving the patient a lethal substance in order to end their life. This piece, “A Crime of Compassion” is not a story about Physician Assisted Suicide because there is not lethal injection being administered to the patient. Barbara Huttmann writes, “. . . I kept one finger on the button without pressing it, as a waxen pallor slowly transformed his face from person to empty shell” (Huttman 2). The nurse did not initiate the life saving measures because of Mac’s request to die. Rather, the piece is about a person’s right-to-die and the patient making the decision, although not officially, to refuse life sustaining treatment and the nurse’s compliance with his

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Euthanasia

    1374 Words  | 3 Pages

    Should a patient have the right to ask for a physician’s help to end his or her life? This question has raised great controversy for many years. The legalization of physician assisted suicide or active euthanasia is a complex issue and both sides have strong arguments. Supporters of active euthanasia often argue that active euthanasia is a good death, painless, quick, and ultimately is the patient’s choice. While it is understandable, though heart-rending, why a patient that is in severe pain and suffering that is incurable would choose euthanasia, it still does not outweigh the potential negative effects that the legalization of euthanasia may have. Active euthanasia should not be legalized because

    Read More

More about Final Exam Case Study Josephine Stewart

Open Document