Death in a physiological sense meant the end of both heartbeat and breathing, known as cardio-respiratory arrest. Nowadays, most doctors see this criterion as irrelevant and in its place; they have taken on a set of neurological criteria that define death as the nonappearance of brain activity, in spite of other bodily functions (Ingersoll, 2011)
¶ … Terry Schiavo died, she had been in a persistent vegetative state for more than ten years. Her husband claimed that Terry "wouldn't have wanted to live in her condition," and had legal guardianship over his wife in her condition ("Terry Schiavo Has Died," 2005)
Especially when it comes to organ donation. "International policy advocates the development of approaches to raise public awareness about end-of-life-care issues, so that when people face a final illness, they may better articulate their needs for care" (Clarke & Seymour, 2010, p
That is why it is important to discuss the importance of proxies and advanced care directors. "Given the observed individual variability, we stress the importance of advance directives and identification of proxies when discussing end-of-life issues in patients with disorders of consciousness" (Demertzi et al
g., technologies for children or the elderly)…identify the end of life as another period of the human lifespan" (Massini, Odom, Banks & Kirk, 2011, p
In the nonappearance of an advance directive or documentation of goalmouths of care, the proxy, in partnership with the medical crew, regulates and governs a plan of care, together with choices concerning end-of-life care. (McGowan, 2011) When matters of medical ineffectiveness happen, efforts to work with patients and their respective families must be commenced, but if the disagreement cannot be determined, a handover in care may be the only selection
"Procurement coordinators have access to critically ill patients during the course of medical treatment with no donation consent and with family or surrogates unaware of their roles. How these programs affect the medical care of these patients has not been studied" (Rady, Verheijde & McGregor, 2010, p
"Death is more than a mere biological occurrence. It has important legal, medical, and social ramifications that make it imperative that those who are responsible for determination of death be accurate and above suspicion" (Souter & Van Norman, 2010, s502)
The rationale for the differential dx -- liver cancer -- is based on the same indications but ignores the possibility of the spread of the cancer from the neck (Berman, 2004). Likewise, adjustment disorder does not consider the metabolic activity and is based solely on the patient's depression and desire to discontinue treatment as the therapy does certainly take a toll on the body and the mind (Aragon-Ching, Zujewski, 2007)
The differential diagnosis suggests liver cancer, adjustment disorder, and chemotherapy side effects, but the primary diagnosis is metastatic cancer. The rationale for the primary diagnosis is the evidence of metabolic activity in the liver and lungs as well as in the neck, indicating that the cancer has indeed spread throughout the body (Berman, 2004)
Secondary diagnosis includes hypertension, somatitis, Anemia, Neutropenia, Hyperlipidermia, effects of tobacco use, and right head and neck cancer. The rationale for these diagnoses are found in the effects of unhealthy lifestyle (smoking, diet) as well as age and stress factors linked to the radiation therapy, which accounts for the Neutropenia too (Davis, Squier, Lilly, 1998)
is that he is a former smoker, 69-year-old male with cancer in the head and neck (a radical neck dissection was performed in 2012), which has recently metastasized in the liver and lungs, as indicated by PET scan which shows metabolic activity. The patient suffers from moderately-severe depression with a PHQ-9 score of 15 (Kroenke, Spitzer, Williams, 2001) and refuses anymore chemotherapy
Controversial Cases of End-of-Life Decisions For this discussion, we consider one the most controversial euthanasia case in the history of America - the case of Terri Schiavo who never regained consciousness after collapsing at her home on February 25, 1990. She died 15 years later at a hospital but her death and the preceding legal battle that the Americans witnessed regarding the removal of her feeding tube created a firestorm of debate around the country about the status of end-of-life decisions (Johnstone, 2011)
They claimed that every human being has a right to live with dignity and lead a quality life. If the quality of life was not ensured then an individual could not live with dignity (Lavi, 2007)
They also put forward the legal positivism argument where morality was detached from law and the law could only be considered when it is written by any law making authority. It also states that law can gain force only if it is enforced and hence unless the government decided to make voluntary euthanasia as a law, there was no point in talking about it (SULMASY, 2002)
" However those against the legalization and allowing euthanasia claim that medical science has advanced to such a level that patients can be ultimately cured. They claim that there are alternative treatments such as palliative care and hospices and hence it is unnecessary to kill the patient in order to kill the symptoms (Woods & Bickley Asher, 2014)