im doing a project on ethical choices and chosen the situation that a baby is in hospital and living by a machine and do you pull the plug?
what i need to know is what is the technichal term to withdrawning medical help and letting the baby die.
2006-09-19 10:48:28 · 9 answers · asked by Mark R 2 in Health ➔ Other - Health
There is no technical term really - it is called "withdrawing life-saving treatment" and in the UK it is currently considered legally and professionally acceptable in only a few cases - e.g. when a person is already brain dead or in a severly disabled baby. Even in these cases it is normal to get both the doctors and the family to agree, if they disagree a court will have to decide.
An adult who is considered to be "competent" i.e. able to understand and decide on the decisions is able to refuse any medical treatment. This means they can also sign a "living will" or do not resuscitate (DNR) order saying that in the case of them needing CPR they do not want it even if they will die as a result. This is legally binding on doctors so if the doctor does it anyway the patient can sue them for battery afterwards.
With babies in the UK ithe doctor must act in their best interests, even if this means turning off the ventilator and letting them die, and is not bound to do what the parents think is right. If the doctor and parents disagree on what should be done the courts must decide what is in the best interests of the baby, even if their best interests are to die (obviously the doctor isn't allowed to turn off the machine until a decision has been made).
Different terms include
-euthanasia (killing someone supposedly in their best interests, like in a terminally ill person in pain) this is illegal in the UK
-physician assisted suicide (where the doctor helps someone to kill themselves e.g. by prescibing a lethal drug, but does not administer it to the patient themselves) this is also illegal.
Many people think there is no difference between turning off a life support machine and someone dying as a result, and actively giving them something poisonous but in law they are totally different things because one is actively doing something to kill someone and one is letting them die by taking away whatis artificially keeping them alive. Whether you agree with that morally or not is another question, you might think it is more cruel to let a patient starve to death over a period of weeks than giving them a drug to kill them in a few seconds. Other people argue that if palliative care (the care of dying patients) was as good as it should be then nobody would want euthaniasia.
What is and is not allowed is a fast changing situation and could be very different in the next few years.
The BMA (the doctor's union) has published some guidelines http://www.bma.org.uk/ap.nsf/Content/Endoflife you might find helpful, and the voluntary euthanasia society www.ves.org.uk has some strong views in favour of euthanasia!
I'm a medical student by the way if you're wondering why I know about this!
2006-09-19 11:47:09 · answer #1 · answered by stupidcatuk 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if you're in england there isn't really a term for pulling the plug. its switching off the ventilator. when thats normally done is for reasons such as multiple organ failure, but i think what you really mean is Brain Stem Death.
ignore the idiot who said murder. And its not euthanasia, thats illegal in britain and is to assist someone in dying. not to withdraw medical intervention.
Hope this helps.
2006-09-19 18:18:32 · answer #2 · answered by Georgie's Girl 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Depends on who you talk to. Euthanasia, is commonly used for assisting the progression of the death process. I've seen it documented as cessation of life support.
2006-09-19 17:54:18 · answer #3 · answered by essentiallysolo 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Withdrawing medical assisstance is good or withdrawing all treatment and medical intervention.
2006-09-19 17:57:52 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
euthanasia
2006-09-21 09:22:13 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
euthanasia OR mercy killing
2006-09-19 17:55:58 · answer #6 · answered by curious 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think it is Do Not Resusitate
2006-09-19 17:50:52 · answer #7 · answered by def_con321 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
bloody murder I would have thought!
2006-09-19 18:11:45 · answer #8 · answered by JOSEPHINE S 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
KILLED BY DEATH !
2006-09-19 19:20:47 · answer #9 · answered by Jabba_da_hut_07 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋