Right to Refuse Life-Sustaining Treatment

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 317-321
Author(s):  
RASA GUSTAITIS
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Critically Ill ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
New York Times ◽  
Medical Intervention ◽  
Parental Choice ◽  
Meaningful Life ◽  
Life Sustaining Treatment ◽  
Judicial Actions ◽  
Similar Development

Recent judicial actions expanding individual rights to refuse life-prolonging medical intervention serve to call attention to the absence of similar development regarding severely damaged, critically ill newborns. Whereas courts have provided guidelines that will allow adults to choose death when hope for meaningful life is lost, hopelessly ill infants continue to be treated aggressively, even in violation of their physicians' reasonable judgment and parental choice. Significant rulings that allow adults to refuse life-supporting treatment grow from the same perception as gives rise to the ethical dilemmas posed by severely damaged newborns: that it is inhumane, indeed morally indefensible, to prolong life when "the burden of maintaining a corporeal existence degrades the very humanity it was meant to serve" (The New York Times, Sept 12, 1986, p A10).

The Empire of Death: How Culture and Economics Affect Informed Consent in the U.S., the U.K., and Japan

1994 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 357-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
George J. Annas ◽  
Frances H. Miller
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Informed Consent ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
New York Times ◽  
The United States ◽  
Medical Intervention ◽  
Jack Kevorkian ◽  
Open Discussion ◽  
Legislative Changes

American culture reflects a paradox: the more openly we discuss death and its inevitability, the more money we spend to postpone and deny it. Sherwin Nuland's book How We Die, a frank description of the way our bodies deteriorate with and without medical intervention, topped the New York Times best seller list in the spring of 1994. At the same time, Jack Kevorkian, arguably the world 's best known physician, was being acquitted of violating Michigan 's law against assisted suicide, while a Michigan commission was debating legislative changes to permit physicians to help their terminally ill patients kill themselves. Despite such open discussion of death and expansion of the informed consent doctrine, U.S. medical expenditures at the end of life remain astronomically high. Most of this elevated spending is attributable to new medical technology.In J.G. Ballard 's Empire of the Sun, the United States, British and Japanese cultures are contrasted through the eyes of a young British boy incarcerated by the Japanese army in China during World War II.

Overtreatment of Neonates

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 169-169
Author(s):  
ALAN R. FLEISCHMAN
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Critically Ill ◽  
Recent Article ◽  
New York Times ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Rescue Fantasies

To the Editor.— Dr William Silverman's recent article entitled "Overtreatment of Neonates? A Personal Retrospective"1 is a thoughtful and provocative addition to the debate on the method to decide how much treatment is appropriate for critically ill and tiny babies. He basically believes that parents should be the decision makers and that the appropriate decision is the withholding of aggressive treatments from infants at the threshold of viability. He adds his voice to others who would criticize the paternalistic physicians who ignore the values of families and merely fulfill their own "rescue fantasies (New York Times.

Hastening Death: Dying, Dignity and the Organ Shortage Gap

2009 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 562-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wojciech Baginski
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Terminally Ill ◽  
New York Times ◽  
The United States ◽  
Organ Shortage ◽  
The New York Times ◽  
Life Sustaining Treatment ◽  
Imminent Death

Imagine that you are lying in a hospital: conscious, partially paralyzed, and terminally ill. Physicians predict that you will die in a couple of weeks. You have heard about the shortage of viable organs in the United States and consider consenting to transplantation of your organs after you die. Trying not to think about your imminent death, you open the New York Times brought by your family and skim the table of contents. You notice an article and slowly start to read. The headline reads “Surgeon Accused of Hurrying Death of Patient to Get Organs.” After you finish reading, you are not willing to donate your organs for transplantation. It does not matter that you are altruistic or that you want your life-sustaining treatment to be removed when your condition worsens. You do not want your death to be hastened. You do not want the physician to play God. You want to die with dignity in a peaceful and friendly environment.

Ethical Dilemmas of the President's Physician

1988 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert S. Robins ◽  
Henry Rothschild
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Ethical Dilemmas ◽  
New York Times ◽  
The United States ◽  
Presidential Campaign ◽  
Early Dementia ◽  
The Government ◽  
Human Problem ◽  
Answering Questions

During the 1984 presidential campaign, questions were raised concerning President Reagan's cognitive integrity in the televised debates. He hesitated before answering questions, appeared to lack attentiveness, and had difficulty remembering and finding words to accurately express his thoughts. These signs, sometimes indicative of early dementia, were reportedly intensified during the 1987 Reykjavik Conference, at which time the President was criticized by James Reston–admittedly an unsympathetic critic–the New York Times columnist. According to Reston, there may be “a human problem at the top of the government [that] … will have to be addressed with uttermost sympathy and care” (December 21, 1986). These questions were again raised by the Iran-Contra affair. For the President of the United States to have even a hint of cognitive dysfunction carries profound implications.

Are Young Adults Ready to Complete Advance Directives?

2022 ◽  
pp. 104990912110664
Author(s):  
Yuchi Young ◽  
Arianna Stone ◽  
Taylor Perre
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Young Adults ◽  
Advance Directives ◽  
End Of Life Care ◽  
New York State ◽  
Medical Intervention ◽  
Medical Interventions ◽  
Life Sustaining Treatment ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Study Participants

Introduction: The dual objective of this study is to examine the perspectives of young adults toward advance directives (ADs) and their preferences related to life-sustaining treatment and care options. Methods: Participants include graduate students (n = 30) attending a university in New York State. Data were collected using a structured survey questionnaire and Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) form. Bivariate summary statistics were performed to address the study aims. Results: The mean age of study participants was 24 years, 60% were female, 60% white, and 27% Black. Most (87%) participants reported being comfortable discussing death and end-of-life care and preferring to make their own decisions. Under the circumstance of no pulse and/or not breathing, 87% want CPR. With a pulse and respiration, 96% want artificially administered fluids and nutrition, 90% want a trial period of intubation and/or mechanical ventilation, 67% want to be sent to a hospital, 67% want antibiotics, and 53% want no limitations on medical intervention. Conclusion: Our findings extend upon previous research by quantifying young adults’ specific beliefs, experiences, and preferences regarding advance directives and life-sustaining interventions. Young adults in our study preferred maximum medical interventions for life-sustaining treatment and care. Given the troubling trends in unintended injury (eg, car crashes and drug overdose) as the leading cause of death among young adults, they should be given an opportunity to understand the options and treatments available and should be encouraged to complete an AD.

Inhaltsanalyse elektronisch gespeicherter Massendaten der internationalen Presse

2003 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 98-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Galliker ◽  
Jan Herman
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York Times

Zusammenfassung. Am Beispiel der Repräsentation von Mann und Frau in der Times und in der New York Times wird ein inhaltsanalytisches Verfahren vorgestellt, das sich besonders für die Untersuchung elektronisch gespeicherter Printmedien eignet. Unter Co-Occurrence-Analyse wird die systematische Untersuchung verbaler Kombinationen pro Zähleinheit verstanden. Diskutiert wird das Problem der Auswahl der bei der Auswertung und Darstellung der Ergebnisse berücksichtigten semantischen Einheiten.

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