Respecting autonomy in severely demented patients through advanced medical directives
This paper discusses the problem that Margo, a severely demented patient, faces when she has pneumonia. Pneumonia is easy to treat with the use of antibiotics, but if left untreated, it is lethal. The doctor has received her advanced medical directive (AMD), where she indicated that she would rej...
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| Format: | Final Year Project |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2018
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10356/73537 |
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| Institution: | Nanyang Technological University |
| Language: | English |
| Summary: | This paper discusses the problem that Margo, a severely demented patient, faces when
she has pneumonia. Pneumonia is easy to treat with the use of antibiotics, but if left
untreated, it is lethal. The doctor has received her advanced medical directive (AMD), where
she indicated that she would reject all forms of treatment that might prolong her life. Medical
practitioners who are supposed to help patients face the dilemma between two principles of
bioethics, namely the autonomy principle and the beneficence principle.
I argue that Margo’s precedent autonomy, as expressed in the AMD should be
respected despite her being pleasurably demented, where she seems to enjoy her current
lifestyle. Failing to respect the AMD would mean to disrespect Margo as a person, even if
there might be possible benefits when she gets the medication. Her AMD is an important
tool, an expression of her autonomy, that allows her to extend her values and wishes to the
future even when she is incompetent and it places constraints on what doctors can do to her
body. It also helps Margo to continue to live her life as a coherent whole through a narrative
that she has planned beforehand |
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