65.
A MEDICAL ETHICS ASSESSMENT/OF THE CASE
OF TERRI SCHIAVO
TOM PRESTON
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
MICHAEL KELLY
Swedish Medical Center and University of Washington,
Seattle, Washington, USA
Thesadal, leg], andpditital disusa’mabwtthedazismtosmfaiingand
hyd’aticn for Ten Shiavo lad<ai a medical ethicsamnmt. Theauthasual
the prindples d mafia indimtims q1ality of life patient prd‘aam and
cmtedual fetures as a giide to maxim] dezisim-making in ttis case The‘r
mtdus’msindudethefdlowing (a) the used a faing tubeinsated draily
In to the danad’t mituted artifidal tretmmt; (b) the tretmmt prdmgi
bidog’cal lifemt did nct led to a aireand dud nct raaeheflh; (d q1ality
d lifewas atmit fa thepatimt, with no with and no mda a cogtitive
fundlating and (d) byprqamdaanosof n’mital cpinim, shewould haved’m
not to “vein a pas‘Smt @ative state The authas find the withd’awal 0‘
trmtma’tt was paniséble and carat. It was nd a dtdaa bawmt living and
dying, tut adaz’s‘m 0‘ when toallow dying mamt with thepatimt’sd’udcn
The case of Terri Schiavo, vexing as it was, holds lessons for us all.
The forcefiil public reactions to the medical and legal proceedings
leading to her demise showed a deep schism over the moral=
religious issues inherent in how we die in the modern age of medi-
cine. In our opinion, the political and legal wrangling detracted
from the public understanding of the medical and bioethical issues
involved in the case.
Some might further argue that the case exposed a severe fault
line in the bioethics approach to issues of this sort, or at least a litm-
tation of the usefulness of bioethics. After all, the case never went
under the scrutiny of a bioethics committee and there was no
n1 1 ‘tten rior to release of the autopsy report on Terri SChiaVO-
iscuss the following: (Make each one of the following a heading for a paragraph)
What happened to the patient?
Why was there ambiguity about her disposition?
What were three specific medical interventions discussed by the authors?
What did the authors determine to be true about the three interventions you selected?
What were the conclusions that the authors came to about this case?
To what degree to you agree or disagree with the authors – and why? (Refer to the authors arguments as you make your case)
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