HSAD 210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Informed Consent, Dialysis, Ethical Dilemma
14 Jul 2018
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Ethical reasoning projects- a family divided: no advance directives. A sixty-seven-year-old man, harold watson, with a five-year history of cardiovascular disease has entered the hospital with a stroke that has paralyzed his right side and caused him to aspirate food of any consistency. His language capacity only yes or no and his responses are inconsistent. The attending physician is convinced that the patient has lost decisional capacity he is incapable of making decisions while two family members are equally convinced that he has decisional capacity. The patient"s wife, regina, and two other children are ambivalent about. The prognosis for the recovery of safe swallowing and speech approaches zero because of the dense damage to the cerebral cortex visible on brain imaging. Two neurological consultants have verified that recovery is likely to be minimal and that permanent, severe disability will be the outcome. Regina says that they never did discuss his preferences about life-sustaining treatment.
