The ethics of letting go.
Emphasis in medical training is laid on therapeutic approaches that prolong life at all costs. This training is reinforced by current medical practices in the United States and by an ever-expanding medical technology, such that it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to "let the patient go." In response, individuals promote the "right-to-die" and euthanasia, so that patients may maintain their human dignity during the dying process. A more rational and nonpolarized approach to this issue would be to strive for the preservation of human function, not physiological function alone. The goal would include helping patients advance their life plans and values. On this basis, therapies can be withheld and withdrawn when they no longer reflect these goals. Caution regarding potential abuses of this approach need to be raised, however, when considering care for the very vulnerable of society. In that regard, therapeutic goals directed at maintaining human function need to be developed in parallel with global societal values regarding quality of life issues.
Thomasma
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Department of Medical Humanities, Loyola University Chicago Medical Center, Maywood, IL 60153.
D026686:Beneficence; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005065:Euthanasia; D028601:Euthanasia, Active; D033101:Euthanasia, Active, Voluntary; D006801:Humans; D008020:Life Support Care; D028681:Moral Obligations; D010344:Patient Advocacy; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D011788:Quality of Life; D012297:Right to Die; D012922:Social Change; D012945:Social Values; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D026712:Value of Life; D035862:Vulnerable Populations; D028761:Withholding Treatment