In the United States, the notion of patient autonomy is held in high regard. Since the development of patients’ rights in the early 1970s, the notion that individuals have the capacity of self-governance is a cornerstone of medical ethics and a standard of care. But that idea has not always been so. In early and […]
As Belgium becomes the first country in the world to remove all age restrictions to euthanasia, health care experts and ethicists are debating whether or not terminally ill children should ever be allowed access to life-ending drugs. Under amendments to the country’s 2002 euthanasia law, a child of any age may be helped to die […]
“You are considered sane until you disagree with the doctor” is an old adage in clinical ethics circles. We rarely question a patient’s ability to make decisions if the patient’s choice agrees with what the physician wants. I have had several cases in which I have been asked to look at capacity issues for a […]
Chicago area experts react to the final decision of Tim Bowers Tim Bowers, the 32-year-old Indiana hunter who fell 16 feet from a tree and suffered a severe spinal injury that paralyzed him from the shoulders down, chose this week to forego the life-support sustaining him Sunday, and his decision has sparked national dialogue about the rights […]