Question

CASE STUDY: Mrs. Kathy is a 68 years old patient with a long history of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus who is admitted to the medical female unit with infected diabetic foot and progressive gangrenous tissue. After initiation assessment, her medical and surgical team have decided that it is time to amputate before septicemia develops and discussed this with the patient that if this condition left untreated may lead to critical complication and death. The treating team have tried to obtain an informed consent from the patient but she refused to sign and said” I don’t want to go for this surgery and I want to die as a whole person without any missing piece of my body”. The Surgeon got upset by the patient and called her son to come. When the son came over, he discussed the case with the surgeon the surgeon told him to sign the consent on behalf of his mother because she is irrational. The son talked with his mother trying to convince her to sign the consent for but she told him” It is my body son, I just don’t want this surgery of amputation and cannot imagine myself becoming dependent”, but her son in fear of his mother’s life agrees with the doctor and signs the consent.                                                                   

What ethical theories might have guided the Son’s decision? Identify and discuss one main ethical theory.

Answer 1

Son viewed the mother’s best interest in terms of the she suffering or quality of life. Son would often note that they did not want the she to suffer any longer and thus refused life-sustaining therapies. Son often sought the advice of the physician or other professionals when making decisions.He valued the clinician’s opinion because they trusted the clinician to place the patients’ best interest first and foremost. However, seemed to only consider clinician advice when they trusted the clinician. Trust and consideration of the clinician’s opinion tended to be mentioned hand-in-hand.

Patient’s best interests

Surrogates often considered what was in the patients’ best interest when making decisions. Their emphasis on the patients’ best interests was displayed in four different ways. First, surrogates often considered what decision would most help to improve the patients’ health., “When looking back on [the patient’s] time in the hospital, what seems most important to you?” surrogates frequently answered with a response such as the patient receiving the best possible care or the patient getting healthy. Sometimes surrogates viewed specific procedures or undertakings as necessary or as the only option for improving the patient’s health and thus did not consider the choice to be an actual decision., “There was no decision with us…I mean they thought hey....she needs it”.