PHL281H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: High Tech, Conscientious Objector
2 Dec 2016
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Document Summary
Autonomy, futility, and the limits of medicine by robert l. schwartz. Physicians are not obligated to administer scientifically futile treatment. Also not treatments outside the proper limits of medicine: defining the scope of medicine should be left to physicians themselves. Autonomy and patient control of medical decision making: Autonomy: the authority to make decisions in accord with one"s own values, unrestrained by the values of others who do not suffer the consequences of the decision. There are (at least) three kinds of limitations on exercising autonomy in healthcare choices: patients cannot require that they be treated by nonmedical means, ex. Context: helga wanglie, 87-y/o woman tripped on a rug at home and fractured her hip. Later suffered cardiac arrest, which caused severe & irreversible brain damage, and put her in a vegetative state. Doctors determined that high-tech care was no longer appropriate. Family disagreed: only he who gave her life has the right to take life i am a pro-lifer.
