Question

As science and technology continue to improve health care, our ability to prolong life increases. This can create an ethical and moral dilemma in cases when a patient faces a terminal disease. In these instances, health care providers often face a conflict of duty. There is an expectation to sustain life and relieve suffering. Conflict occurs when a patient and/or family member needs to decide whether extraordinary measures should be taken to prolong a life.

In your own words, define extraordinary measures. Provide an example of a situation in which extraordinary measures are used. In the example that you used, do you feel that it was ethical to use extraordinary measures? Why or why not? How does the use of extraordinary measures fit with a health care provider’s code of ethics? You may want to select a specific provider (e.g., cardiologist or nurse) and research that profession’s code. If you were to find yourself faced with the decision to use extraordinary measures to prolong your life or that of a family member, how would you make this decision?

Answer 1

Extraordinary measures are any medical procedures in the case of a terminally ill patient that will only prolong the process of dying when death is expected to occur soon. It does not include palliative care.

Example of such extraordinary measure is the use of CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation) for a patient with disseminated cancer.

Patients with cancer have lower survival rates following CPR in an intensive care unit than other patients. Although CPR might be initially successful, most of them die during the same hospital stay. However, I feel that a treatment is probably not futile if there is “a real chance of achieving some desirable end, whether that end is cure of the patient, patient comfort, patient dignity, or even comfort to the family. So I find the use of extraordinary methods ethical.

If I were to take a decision for the use of extraordinary methods for saving my life or the life of a dear one I would definitely choose to use the boon of technology. Because more often than not there might be chances of survival or prolonged life.