2006-08-20 01:57:38 · 24 answers · asked by dave p 4 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Other - Diseases
Why would doctors do that? Their job is to try and cure people....and they would only 'pull the plug' if the person's condition was beyond repair...
I think the doctors explain everything to you beforehand: the consequences of the procedure, the 'what ifs' etc...and it's up to the ill person to decide whether or not he'she want to go through the procedure...after knowing all the risks
2006-08-20 02:04:58 · answer #1 · answered by Angel_like 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends on your physician and your condition. I am a physician and I only had to do it once. The patient had irreversible brain damage, was literally a vegetable. I had the choice to send him back to his family (wife and two young sons)where he would have been a burden to them and probably would have died of orthostatic pneumonia or bankrupted them first, or pull the plug. I worried over my decision for a full day...he was on life-support...and I decided to end it. You may think of physicians and surgeons as being heartless...it is not so. I don't know about other physicians, but I remember the face of each of the patients I lost and I see them looking at me (in my mind's eye) and I feel guilt because I failed them. I am a good physician but the burden became too much for me and I quit medicine. If you trust your doctor at all, then believe me that he worries about you more than he will ever show you. It is a constant battle between him and death. I guess in a way I am a coward for not continuing the battle but in my own defense, I fought a long and hard war.
2006-08-20 09:20:14 · answer #2 · answered by Frank 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would trust the doctor not to pull the plug unless I were about to die anyway, in which case it would make no difference, and I'd probably prefer not to have suffering prolonged.
A doctor might want to discuss what was the right thing for you with your family members or others close to you. Or they might refer to something you'd written. (Their guidance says that if you can't make a decision that is what they should do). So its a good idea to make your wishes known to those around you, and have it written down somewhere.
You might even want to choose someone who would be your advocate. Living wills or advance directive might be a good idea, but these are often about what treatments you DON'T want to have, rather than what you want, which is all treatment.
2006-08-20 20:04:03 · answer #3 · answered by jennymanchester 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nobody should trust doctors, look what they did in the Nazi concentration camps when they had total freedom to experiment and kill without fear of prosecution.
They do need your next of kin's permission to pull the plug on you, but doctors could convince them there was no hope and make them agree to it (they can falsify records, make it look like a natural death, this HAS happened, just look at the organ retention scandals!). They could then keep several people alive instead of just you by donating your heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, corneas, etc. Anyone that carries a donor card is a fool.
2006-08-20 09:08:40 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
if I am going to die anyways and just be a drain on others around me I would want the end to come, life and death are already contradictory to each other and it is always a losing battle, I love life and all of the people for the most part that I have met in it, but what's the point of keeping someone around because you can't let go? life will still continue anyways there is no need to be selfish, pull the plug, turn the lights off, I need to go to sleep now, it is my time
2006-08-20 09:05:40 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'd be a lot more concerned that they would NOT pull the plug when that was the appropriate thing to do. Most doctors I know are very conservative about pulling plugs.
On the whole, I think we do way too much to terminally ill folks who should be allowed to die in peace.
If you're concerned, make a living will. You can specify precisely what you want done or not done.
2006-08-20 09:05:00 · answer #6 · answered by Pangolin 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If i was very ill and had no chance of recovery, then i hope the doctors would pull the plug. I don't want to suffer!
2006-08-20 09:04:31 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are not allowed to - it is illegal - they can only do if you are on a support machine and they have permision from your next of kin or unless you have told them to do it before you came ill, "If I am on a support machine - pull the plug and kill me." They do this to gain your trust and therefore you would trust them.
2006-08-20 09:04:19 · answer #8 · answered by PeachyPies 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
As long as you have an advance directive and have spoken with your family concerning hospitalization in case of an emergency, then you don't have anything to worry about. Then again, if you were admitted to the hospital with severe brain injury, multiple loss of limbs and other complications, would you like to be kept alive like a vegetable?
2006-08-20 11:47:06 · answer #9 · answered by Art The Wise 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If i was very ill, i'd probably pray and hope(might even hint or just come right out and say it) that they pull the plug and turn my lights out.
(If i was "very" ill)
2006-08-20 09:08:42 · answer #10 · answered by cookie_recipe 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋