Medical law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Medical law - Case Study Example The legal medical standards and ethical decision making styles in healthcare today are the predominant factors in caring for patients in an appropriate and caring manner. For many years now there have been intense debates concerning the ethical implications of euthanasia in medical care. The medical law has clearly defined that any form of euthanasia, including forms of assisted suicide or even discussion of suicide with a patient is unethical and morally wrong, not to mention illegal in the UK. Therefore despite the fact that euthanasia might at times appear to be the more humane way to control and perhaps provide sincere care to a patient, it is not something that is legally allowed within all of the countries that make up the geographic regions of the UK. Because of the legal boundaries involved with this form of medical care, many people travel great distances simply to have the ability to have their own wishes upheld. Also, there exists a great deal of confusion with the law and the comprehensive level of those contemplating euthanasia. Many citizens all around the UK don't fully understand what euthanasia entails and why it is considered by som e to be so unethical and immoral either. Euthanasia is a form of care that can be defined as, "either painlessly putting to death or failing to prevent death from natural causes in cases of terminal illness or irreversible coma" (Bender et al 1989). The term comes from the Greek expression for "good death." Now, this short definition has been found to be a cause for debates all over the world, with specific emphases in the UK itself. Doctors, politicians, religious leaders, lawyers, and the general public argue over the legislation that would allow or forbid euthanasia. Currently, there are only two countries, which permit such "activity"; and these are the Netherlands and Belgium. As was said, citizens in countries such as England and Britain often travel to the Netherlands in particular to have their wishes to end their lives upheld. This is considered morally wrong by many as well because if an individual is suffering terribly from untreatable throat cancer and there is no way to extend their quality of life, then the q uestion is, "why make them suffer" Of course current UK legislation obviously does bring on a lot of heart ache for many of those in its borders. This is undoubtedly where some of the more differing viewpoints come into a clearer perspective. There also exists another subsidiary concept other than the basic form of euthanasia which is known as, "Passive Euthanasia" (Bender et al 1989). This form of euthanasia is understood to come into being when treatment to a patient is intentionally withheld or withdrawn to prolong life in many cases (Bender et al 1989). It is the notion of hastening the death of a person by altering some form of medical support that they are receiving and letting nature take its course that is an example of passive euthanasia. Some forms of this would be incidents that include repudiation of chemotherapy, radiation, antibiotics, and also the refusal of donor blood for needed transfusions. Also, stopping medications,