Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Pacemaker
A 57 year old man developed heart disease 5 years ago and was given a pacemaker. He was doing well until a year ago when he began getting shortness of breath and suffered renal failure. Two weeks ago he was admitted to the emergency room after an apparent heart attack, where he fell into unconsciousness after resuscitation. It was discovered that he has bloody fluid around his heart. The care team believes that there is no reasonable chance for recovery. The pacemaker is keeping his heart going. The man left no advance directive, but discussed end of life treatment with his family. They say that he would not want to be kept alive on “machines.” The care team wonders if they should turn the pacemaker off. Is it ethically permissible for the care team to do so?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
In this case we are considering the pacemaker a life-saving machine, which happens to be implanted in the patient. The family should serve as a logical proxy as he has verbalized on several occasions prior to his death his wishes regarding his care. If this is considered passive euthanasia, then carrying out his wishes is legal in all 50 states.
ReplyDelete