Posts Tagged with End of life
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Robyn Benson suffered from a fatal brain hemorrhage and is brain dead. Yet, her husband hopes to keep her on life support to allow their unborn baby to develop until 34 weeks. How is this different from the case of Marlise Munoz?
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This article discusses the story of Marlise Munoz, a 33 year old pregnant woman from Fort Worth, Texas who was proclaimed to be brain dead after collapsing on her kitchen floor last November because of a blood clot. Texas is part of the handful of states that prohibit medical officials from ending life support to pregnant women, and although Munoz's family had decided to take Marlise off of life support, granting the choice she had made before reaching this condition, doctors at the John Peter Smith hospitals have not complied with this decision. This case brings up issues concerning abortion as well as end-of-life care. (Thanks for Vera Armus-Laski for this post.)
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Zaltrap is a drug that has been approved by the FDA for treatment of advanced colon cancer. The life-extension median of the drug is 42 days, however the price is staggering. It is expected of a doctor to disregard price when it comes to medicine, however several doctors at Sloan Kettering agreed to not offer the drug in their hospital. Read the article here and leave a comment. (Thanks to Jason Schoen for this post.)
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If you are looking for a good bioethics book to read, consider Five Days at Memorial by Sherri Fink. This well researched book tells the story of how physicians and nurses cared for the sick and dying in the trying days after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. To what extent should circumstances alter moral decision making? (Thanks to Ariel Ben-Ezra for making me aware of this book.)
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