hello everyone,
I have just heard mpr news and I hope it is not too strange discussing the topic here.
Medical science has made it possible to prolong physical life. Most in the step toward the end, there are interventions, people are put on life-machine. Under a pressure of time doctors and family members have to decide what is the best for the patient.
The two interview partner argued that there is a need for a discussion about "the way we die."
In my opinion prolonging life presents a moral and ethical dilemma for the medical profession and the family of the helpless individuum. Who can and should decide the end-of-life?
Here is the link for the article:
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/01/28/midmorning2/
What do you think about this?
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Prolonging life have been the dream of human beings, especially for medical and chemical scientists. Of course, I know there are a lot of arguments on this serious issue, but I personally agree with the medical developments on prolonging life. However, I also should say that the development of medical technologies must be followed by the development of humans' ethical consciousness. Especially, as Carina gave rise a question, to decide other family member's end of life will put extremely high burdens for family members and doctors. It is so complicated problem....
ReplyDeleteLife is the most precious gift that can be given to someone. I agree that no one is allowed to take someone else's life. But we have to admit too that sometimes there is no way for a patient who is in coma to get back to life eventhough you can see breathing because a machine keeps him breathing, but he/she is unconscious. a lot nerve in his system are already died. it's true that it looks cruel, and painful after they disconnect the patient from the machine to watch him/her passing out. it's like the doctor and the patient's family take off his/her life, but I think that it's when they know for sure that there is no turning back. it's hard. It's a really tough decision; it's hard to imagine.
ReplyDeleteAhh, this is an interesting story and a really interesting debate (maybe we should debate this question in class sometime!). It sounds like both of the people who were interviewed advocate that people should die a "good death", meaning that people should think critically about their health care options, especially near the end of life. For example, some medical procedures can actually diminish a person's quality of life, and perhaps at the end of life, it's not neccessary to suffer so much, even if it means the person might die.
ReplyDeleteOne question that I heard in the interview was about cultural attitudes toward death. For example, Dr. Kane suggested that Americans don't accept death the same way as Irish people do. What do you think about this point? What's your culture's attitude toward death?