The case study was this The case study I am suggesting is of a seventeen year old girl who was… 1 answer below »
The case study was this The case study I am suggesting is of a seventeen year old girl who was thrown from the bed of a truck sustaining severe head trauma who was pregnant. Her parents argued she should be kept alive in order to preserve the life of the baby because prior to the accident she had made the decision to keep the baby. If you all like this idea as our dilemma please let me know.
Depends on this case study we held interview with 4 different person
My Interview with a hospital administrator
I interviewed an administrator of a hospital for my portion.
Question #1 Do you think the parents had a right to keep their daughter alive until after the baby was viable and able to be delivered?
Response: Yes. The patient, their daughter, had expressed her wishes to her parents concerning her desire to keep the baby. Based upon that the parents have every right to advocate for their daughter and what she had expressed to them previously. Also, it is illegal to abort a fetus at the term of 6 months so the baby has rights as this point as well in my opinion. Also while the parents are only delaying the inevitable death of the patient they are doing it to save a life. In that respect they are doing no harm to the life that is still salvageable. The patient may experience some perceivable suffering by being kept alive on life support however, the good outweighs the bad in my opinion because another’s life will be saved.
Question #2 What are the ethical dilemmas involved in this case in your opinion?
Response: One could argue that the use of the resources being utilized to keep a brain dead patient alive would be better purposed for someone who has the possibility of a meaningful recovery. In other words, this patient is occupying a bed and space in an ICU unit that might be needed for someone else who could potentially be saved.
One could also argue that the cost of the care necessary to keep this patient alive could be a burden to society, the hospital and the insurance company. Should care be spent in this manner when the care is only delaying the inevitability of death.
Another argument could be that by keeping the patient alive she is being forced to suffer. This would then be a direct violation of our obligation to do no harm.
My opinion is that the correct decision was made for all involved parties in this scenario.
Question #3 Was it fair for the patient to be kept alive until her baby was viable and able to be delivered?
Response: Again some might argue that she suffered in keeping her alive for the sake of the baby and in doing so harm was done.
I believe in this instance it was fair because she expressed she wanted to have the baby prior to the accident to her parents. I believe since she told her parents this that one can conclude that she would have been ok with being kept alive to see the birth of that child come to fruition. I also believe the ultimate fairness is to the infant who is life.
Question #4 Do you believe the unborn fetus has any rights in this scenario?
Response: Yes. According to the abortion laws the fetus is considered viable legally and as a result could not be harmed or aborted. The baby has every right to be born in my opinion.
(2)Interview with spiritual leader
For this portion of the CLC project on analysis of an ethical dilemma, I was asked to interview a spiritual leader about our dilemma and post written responses about their philosophy and worldview in relation to our dilemma. For this particular piece I decided to speak with someone I was a little more comfortable with asking these types of questions to, which was a United Pentecostal Pastor I used to sit under for a few years in his church. It was just he and I during the interview. I started off by telling him the dilemma or topic we were analyzing.
My first question to him was “do you feel the family made the right decision by keeping this woman alive to preserve the life of her unborn child, although the women would still die”.
He responded by saying, “God calls us all home when it is our time to go”. He said “I have an unbiased opinion about this, but if you want me to tell you what I personally would do if it was my family…. I would do the same”. “I would take all measures necessary to keep that unborn child alive because there is no since in losing 2 lives and this child would be considered a miracle child in my eyes”. He stopped then and said, “but because we are a family as a body of Christ as a whole I would have to get my church members involved and spend a lot of time in prayer and fasting to try to seek Gods will on the correct choice to make in this situation also before any final decision would be made”. “I would highly rely on my church members after many hours/days of fasting and prayer to help decide the right choice to make”.
(3) Interview with friend
1. Q: Do you think the parents had a right to fight for the right to keep their daughter alive until after the baby was viable and able to be delivered?
A: I do believe the parents had the right to fight for their daughters life until delivery of the baby because she was still under 18, so they are automatically the decision makers for her. The daughter wasn't able to make the decision herself and had stated before the accident that she wanted the child, so it sounds like they made the decision that she would have wanted made. There are cases of parents who fight to keep their children on life support when they aren't pregnant, so in this case it seems like a no-brainer.
2. Q: What are the ethical dilemmas involved in this case in your opinion?
A: I think the ethical dilemmas may be with the MD's and how the parents had to fight to keep their daughter alive. I only see this being a real dilemma if the daughter was over 18 being considered an adult and did not want her fetus to be saved. It doesn't seem like the parents should have had to fight for this at all. It seems unethical that the doctors would want to pull the plug even though she is pregnant and the baby could be saved.
3. Q: Was it fair for the patient to be kept alive until her baby was viable and able to be delivered?
A: Yes, she had expressed beforehand that she wanted this child and the baby was already 6 months developed at the point of decision. If the situation were different, and her health was fine but the baby was in danger or she was going into labor early, all efforts would be made to safe the baby, why should this situation be different? It sounds cruel, but she is brain dead so keeping her alive on life support doesn't increase suffering for her. And most likely, if she were able to speak, she would say that she is willing to sacrifice herself for the baby.
4. Q: Do you believe the unborn fetus has any rights in this scenario?
A: The unborn fetus cannot make any of these decisions, if that's what the question means. If the question is meaning rights in general, then yes I believe it has human rights. Just as we consider fetuses past a certain gestation to be living and have rights when talking about abortion laws, the same rights apply here. Babies are born at 6 months gestation and they survive. In this case, it is possible to allow the baby to develop further and have a better chance of survival, so yes I believe it has the right to that, and it's grandparents are fighting for it's rights.
(4) Interview with health care colleague (mrs rashmi you did it for me from transtutor)
It is decided to receive the perspective of a health care colleague on the ethical dilemma of a brain dead pregnant woman. I interviewed my colleague from a healthcare center. He has started his interview by making it clear that the views he was sharing was his own thinking, and also supported by the ethical and lawful evidences. He also stated his personal philosophy on our ethical dilemma of a seventeen year old pregnant woman who was declared brain dead at sixth month of her pregnancy. Questions asked to healthcare colleague and his respective answers are given below:
1. Do you think the parents had a right to fight for the right to keep their daughter alive until after the baby was viable and able to be delivered?
First question is about the right of patient’s parents to fight for keeping their daughter alive till the delivery of baby. The interviewee advised about the laws applicable to this situation where maternal somatic support is recommended after brain death. According to Federal Patient Self-Determination Act, the health care centers have to admit such patients and provide advance health care directives to them and provide right to patient’s parents and relatives to keep their daughter alive until the baby was delivered.
2. What are the ethical dilemmas involved in this case in your opinion?
In second question I asked the healthcare colleague about ethical dilemma involved in this case. He answered that, "there are certain ethical dilemmas available regarding this case where the decision is influenced by the gestational age of fetus at the time of accident" (Yoshioka and Sugimoto, 1996). Though the mother declared brain dead but the fetus have right to be alive and hence the decision taken by that pregnant woman’s parents was right according to law and ethic, stated by interviewee. He further added, "It is arguable situation because ethical dilemmas are inherent in such cases where pregnant women were declared brain dead".
3. Was it fair for the patient to be kept alive until her baby was viable and able to be delivered?
The third question I asked is about fairness of keeping patient alive until her baby was able to be delivered. His answer to this question is to prolong the mother’s life is considered to be an ethical decision if it has a positive result for the fetus. He supported his saying with the principle of philosophy and beneficence, given in Dillon, and Foote (1982) it discusses whether to provide life support to brain dead pregnant woman or not. Prolonging mother’s life is not supported if fetus is suffering from same event like mother. In case of 24 to 28 week gestation, medical intervention is needed after providing enough information about potential risk to decision makers. According to medical professionals, special strategies are need to be used to support a brain dead mother to deliver a healthy child, and also be able to donate her organs. Hence, proper management of brain-dead mother is essential along with the organ supporting therapy.
4. Do you believe the unborn fetus has any rights in this scenario?
His answer to this question is, "the fetus have right to survive and live and circumstances cannot control the birth of fetus".
Reference:
Dillon, and Foote, R.J. (1982). "Life support and maternal brain death during pregnancy.". Journal of the American Medical Association. 248: 1089–91
Yoshioka T, Sugimoto H, (1996). Prolonged hemodynamic maintenance by the combined administration of vasopressin and epinephrine in brain death: a clinical study. Neurosurgery. 18:565 – 567.
After reading interviewed with 4 person
Read either or for instruction to complete this assignment
(1) Post in the group forum our consensus of the responses from each of the four parties interviewed. Write about the at least 2 similarities and 2 differences.(250 words)
(2) Compose 190-250 words articulating the group’s position and rationale for our position based upon interviews conducted.
OR
(our professor requirement is as below) you will have idea what my professor requirement)
After completing the individual interviews share your interview results. As a group, consider the responses of the four types of individuals interviewed. Assess their similarities and differences.
Compose a written recommendation of 190-250 words. Incorporate the research your group has done as well as your interview results for the four types of individuals to come to a resolution to the ethical dilemma. Be sure to clearly articulate your group’s position and the rationale for your position.
Prepare this assignment according to the APA guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
