Benefit of Doubt Increasingly Shifting Toward Death in UK
The Lord Chancellor has warned UK doctors that if they violate advance directives refusing treatment, they could go to jail. Now, I certainly believe it is important to respect a patient's desires in this regard; but jail? There are an awful lot of areas of ambiguity in these matters and the threat of jail certainly pushes decision making toward a decision for death.
Moreover, the sacrosanct nature of advance directives isn't a two way street. In the UK, if a patient wants to continue to receive life support, has stated so in an advance directive, and is either unconscious or unable to communicate further, no jail threats against doctors for "pulling the plug." Indeed, the Leslie Burke case gave doctors that very power. (We see the same paradigm at work here in the USA with the encroachment of Futile Care Theory on patient autonomy.)
So, in the UK, violate an advance directive causing a patient to live, and face jail. Violate an advance directive leading to a patient's death, and it is merely medical ethics.
posted by Wesley J. Smith @ 7:37 AM
6 Comments
6 Comments:
I am becoming very concerned about the push for Advance Directives in this country. The push seems to be for people to choose NOT to have life-sustaining treatments. No thought seems to be given to the fact that people can't really know for sure what they would want until they are in the condition.
I am very skeptical about the emphasis the medical profession is putting on so-called "patient autonomy", because I do not believe that they really respect such a concept. I think that they are more interested in separating people from the protection of concerned families, then in protecting the rights of an individual to make treatment decisions.
When I hear arguments in favor of increasing Man's "autonomy", I start looking for totalitarians behind the curtain.
Evidence that you're right, Jerri: The pre-made form advance directives that are supposed to "help" people make their wishes known are very biased towards refusing care.
Lydia,
Here in Texas, they want to increase "education" on the issue.
The topic of conversation about Advance Directives during a recent meeting of the Texas Advance Directives Coalition was ALL about that. The hospitals and providers seem to want a government-funded and/or mandated platform for propagandizing about the subject.
The Feds already require that patients admitted to the hospital, be given access to advance directives. These are forms that tend to be one way streets. What people need to do is find the proper forms that name trusted surrogates and protect against being killed and dehydrated (assuming that is their desire). The International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide has one called the Protective Medical Decisions Document (PMDD) Those interested can hit the Task Force link here at Secondhand Smoke.
I wonder what the legislators, doctors, members of the Texas Advanced Directives Coalition, etc., would have to say if they were the ones hooked up to the life support systems. I'm not saying that sarcastically; I'm very curious about what those who push for Futile Care really think about their own lives being under the same potential threat. Do they mostly lean toward the idea of having their plugs pulled? Do they seem to waver when the subject is someone in their own families, or their own persons?
National Right To Life has a "Will To Live Project." Check the front page of their site, www.nrlc.org. The advanced directives at their site are supposed to be state specific-in accord with the laws of each state. Each is supposed to have been crafted or reviewed by attorneys working in each state. They can be downloaded at http://nrlc.org/euthanasia/willtolive/StatesList.html
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