"DNR" is a "do not recessitate" whats ethical. when asked they ask you about feeding tubes and antibiotics as well as the other regular DNR questions. the real question is knowing that you may have an incounter prior to surgery & agree to all DNR orders, is that the same as suicide?
2007-01-06 13:12:53 · 9 answers · asked by cher 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Suicide is a willfull act causing death. A DNR order stipulates the lenght that the medical staff will go to to prevent death from happening.
The difference is that a DNR prevents live-saving procedures to someone who would probably die without medical intervention, while suicide is an intervention designed to bring death.
2007-01-06 13:22:34 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
DNR's (Do Not Resuscitate Orders) are fairly specific in application, so the situation would have to be defined in greater detail. If someone is struck in the head and their heart stops and a doctor is right there, the DNR means nothing because there is a reasonable chance of salvaging the person's life with minimal care and permanant damage.
DNR Laws also vary from state to state.
As far as being considered "suicide", I think you're stretching things a little. Suicide is the willful ending of one's own life, as opposed to a DNR, which suggests that their life is already under threat from another means.
2007-01-06 21:19:34 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, not the same as suicide...a suicidal person knows they don't want to live at all...a person who signs a DNR is certain that they don't want to live under certain circumstances...they don't want to take the chance of spending days, weeks, months, or years in a vegetative state with a machine breathing for them and a feeding tude providing nutrition, many times causing their loved ones to watch them deteriorate slowly...
2007-01-06 21:20:49 · answer #3 · answered by g 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
DNRs are out there to protect patient's rights. If you do not want to be kept alive by machines and tubes, then that is your right. Your medical proxy can make that judgment for you if they know what your wishes are.
2007-01-06 21:15:28 · answer #4 · answered by quatrapiller 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Requesting that BEFORE hand is not suicide. This is your way of clearly stating that you don't want to live in a vegetative state, for example. Mostly, I've seen this for elderly people. You're not asking anyone to kill you, you're simply saying that extraordinary means should not be used to keep you alive.
2007-01-06 21:18:55 · answer #5 · answered by jkm65 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm going to have to agree with Grand96Prix's answer, with a follow up. As she said, life-support and the like, in my belief, is artificial living. So in my eyes, they are already dead. Its as if.. you were hanging on to a branch, about to fall off a cliff. Whats the point in holding on if those last minutes are meaningless and you have no hope of survival?
2007-01-06 21:51:38 · answer #6 · answered by laura m 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's not suicide. It's simply a way for you to specify how medical treatment should proceed (or not). Your best bet is to think it over long before you need it, and to have a living will and a power of attorney for health care drawn up by a competent lawyer, preferably one who specializes in estate planning.
These guys took good care of my wife and I: http://www.sspattorneys.com/
2007-01-06 21:20:15 · answer #7 · answered by ralfg33k 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
For lack of better words you would be kept alive "artificialy". So I don't see not wanting those things to keep you alive as suicide, in my opinion. But as I have told my husband keep me plugged in forever!!!!!
2007-01-06 21:17:17 · answer #8 · answered by grand96prix 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no
2007-01-06 21:14:23 · answer #9 · answered by stinkypinky 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋