Anna, a 15 year old young girl, goes swimming with her friends. As she was diving in the pool she hits the bottom of the pool and breaks her hand and her backbone is injured too. She becomes unconscious and is taken to hospital. When she wakes up she asks the doctor of her condition and the doctor tells her that she will no longer be in a position to use her body from her arms downwards. Anna opts for Euthanasia, to ease her suffering and that of her family too.
The key moral dilemma in this scenario is Euthanasia. Anna a young lady, 15 years of age went to swim, when she dove into the water, she hit the bottom of the pool and injured her backbone and left her quadriplegic and paralyzed from her shoulders downwards. This has made her …show more content…
The ethical dilemma that has been reported in this case is whether or not to consider the patient’s autonomy or ignore them. Ina a case like this once the healthcare practitioner has an obligation to give medical treatment that the patient has not preferred. Respecting a person’s autonomy yields satisfaction and contentment to the particular individual while action against the will of a patient may be viewed as kind of inflicting pain or suffering to the patient. However it is my believe that the physician opts to ignore Anna’s initial request and proceed with good primary care, testing and counseling’s of the patient as preferred by friends and close family members. This will only be possible through the cooperation of her …show more content…
In this case I am sure that this situation has contributing factors that are beyond my control, however the health care that I will provide the patient with must not be influenced by the patient’s age or social status. In my thoughts it was clear to me that Anna would have just undergone counselling in order to be in a position to accept her current condition and use a wheelchair. My goal would be to alienate pain and suffering from the patient but in our case emotional pain and suffering is the most prominent. If I choose to respect the patient’s wishes without consulting her parents and close family members it would not be appropriate because the patient is a minor while if I did not follow the wish of the patient I will be violating her right to autonomy. Finally I was able to come up with a final decision on my part that I should ignore the patient’s wishes, because she is a minor, and her parents are responsible for her decision making which in this case is the same of mine of preserving