Final Research Paper-Intro

Advances in medical technology has allowed for and contributed to an increase in human life expectancy. Physician’s prognosis’ for a variety of diseases has shifted from a poor or fatal outcome to the possibility of complete or partial recovery. The ability to prolong and sustain life can be viewed as either a positive medical advancement or an open door to a multitude of ethical issues. Prolonging the life of a patient awaiting an organ transplant or a cure for a disease is ethically appropriate, if the patient’s quality of life during that time is good. However, keeping a patient alive, using a life sustaining treatment, that has a poor quality of life or resuscitating a terminally ill patient is unethical. Determining what is considered a poor quality of life, versus an acceptable quality of life, and the use of life-sustaining treatments, along with the enforcement of advanced directives have become a powerful and controversial topics in the medical field.
These issues were exemplified in the Terri Schiavo case, in which a young woman diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state, was thrown into the middle of a lengthy legal battle between her parents, her husband and the medical team involved with her care. Terri was twenty-six years old when she collapsed in her Florida home in 1990. Her treating physicians believed a potassium deficiency caused a heart attack in which Terri suffered catastrophic brain damage, resulting in a persistent vegetative state (PVS). A percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube was placed to provide nutrition and hydration for Terri. PEG tube feeding, which is commonly used as a life-sustaining treatment, was Terri’s only means of survival. Since the day the PEG tube was placed, a long and protracted legal battle ensued, encompassing Terri’s life, removal of her feeding tube, and bitter family disputes concerning her quality of life. In essence, the case turned into a legal battle between Terri’s husband, the medical professionals involved in her care, and Terri’s parents. Throughout the drawn-out legal proceedings, that lasted more then a decade, Terri lay in numerous long-term care facilities, possibly in pain and discomfort, possibly pain-free and comfortable, yet with a very poor prognosis (Breier-Mackie 293).

Reference:

Breier-Mackie, Sarah J. PhD, RN, APRN. “PEGs and Ethics Revisited: A Timely Reflection in the Wake of the Terri Schiavo Case.” Gastroenterology Nursing. 28 (2005): 292-297.