Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Medical technology changes
Advancements in medical technology
Code of ethics in medical technology essay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Medical technology changes
Advancements in medical technology are made every day. Diseases are being cured, and better treatments are becoming available for the diseases that are not. As a result, people are living longer, and some medical problems that once killed, now do not. Almost anyone would agree that living longer would be great, but for patients’ suffering from dementia, Alzheimer’s, or any other debilitating disease, a longer life is just more time to suffer. Prolonged life has become a topic of ethical debate, and there are many things to be considered when discussing it.
When asked to choose between quality of life and length of life, most people would probably choose quality over length. In an article by Katy Butler she found that, “30 percent of seriously ill people surveyed in a hospital said they would rather die…patients with advanced heart failure said they would trade one day of excellent health for another two years in their current state” (Butler). Once they have lost their ability to take care of themselves, their quality of life suffers. They are no longer able to enjoy life the way they once did. Every person deserves the right to determine whether or not quality of life is more important than length of life, but in some cases they are not.
Part of making that decision is being informed. Often older patients that benefit from these life-extending technologies are not properly informed of the pros, cons, and alternatives (Butler). Most patients would refuse aggressive treatment knowing that their suffering would be drawn out. One of the reasons for this lack of understanding is that some patients are too ill to discuss the decision. This leaves the decision to the loved ones who might not be aware of what the patient would want done....
... middle of paper ...
...tant to consider the benefits of allowing these technologies to benefit younger people whose lives have just begun.
Works Cited
Butler, Katy. "What Broke My Father’s Heart." The New York Times. The New York Times, 19 June 2010. Web. 2 May 2014.
Lee, Thomas. "Medical technology prolongs lives. But is that a good thing?." MedCity News. MedCity News, 29 June 2010. Web. 2 May 2014.
Mohide, E. Ann, George W. Torrance, David L. Streiner, Dorothy Ann Pringle, and Raymond Gilbert. "Measuring the Well-Being of Family Caregivers Using the Time Trade-Off Technique." . Pergamon Press, 25 Sept. 1987. Web. 2 May 2014.
"Oregon Medical Board, Death with Dignity Safeguards Protect Patients." . Compassion & Choices, 25 June 2010. Web. 2 May 2014.
Winston, Morton Emanuel. "Technology and Ethics in the News." Society, ethics, and technology. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2014. . Print.
However it can also make room for medical, legal and ethical dilemmas. Advances in medical technology enable individuals to delay the inevitable fate of death, overcome cancer, diabetes, and various traumatic injuries. Our advances in medical technologies now allow these individuals to do things on their own terms. The “terminally ill” state is described as having an incurable or irreversible condition that has a high probability of causing death within a relatively short time with or without treatment (Guest, p.3, 1998). A wide range of degenerative diseases can fall into either category, ranging from, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease and many forms of cancer. This control, however, lays assistance, whether direct or indirect, from a
The Death with Dignity Act was passed in Oregon in 1994, and it is another option for dying with those who have terminal diseases. These people that want to die with dignity have to be seen by at least two doctors and have six or less months to live. While making the decision to use this act, the patient must be in a safe mental state to be making this decision. Currently, Oregon, Washington, Vermont, and soon to be California are the only states to carry the Death with Dignity Act. (Death)
In 1994, Oregon passed the Death with Dignity Act. This law states that Oregon residents, who have been diagnosed with a life ending disease and have less than six months to live, may obtain a lethal medicine prescribed by a physician, which would end their life when and where they chose to do so. This law or act requires the collection of data from patients and physicians and publishes it in an annual r...
Even though Barbara’s intentions in this paper are directly stated, her claims she gives does not back her argument at all. After reading her major claim, which states that we do not have the right to die (97), I feel the complete opposite of what she thinks and I believe a person should have the right to die if there is no chance of them getting better in the future. The author’s grounds explained all of the struggles of keeping a very sick man alive, which I believe gave me some very good evidence to write my counter argument.
There are several important ethical issues related to euthanasia. One is allowing people who are terminally ill and suffering the right to choose death. Should these people continue to suffer even though they really are ba...
The Death with Dignity Act (hereafter DWDA) allows terminally ill patients who are Oregon residents to obtain and use the prescription from their physician to self-administer lethal medications. Under the Act, ending one’s life is in accordance with the law and does not constitute as suicide. The Death with Dign...
Anti-euthanasia advocates claim that assisted suicide is unneeded, meaning a person seeking euthanasia “should be forced to live regardless of the quality of life,” according to Dr. Philip Nitschke. He writes in “Euthanasia: Hope you never need it, but be glad the option is there” that a person should be able to choose he or she’s own outcome “to ensure dignity and choice.” Being able to choose our path in life is something that is granted to people in first world countries, such as the United States. Removing the right to choose if a person wants to die is not only wrong, but allows unnecessary suffering to continue. Dr. Nitschke believes that ultimately, “Unless modern medicine has a cure for Alzheimer’s [or] any number of the terminal illnesses that confront [us] will keep suffering.” Death is something that will happen to everyone, but suffering is not. While people with terminal illness do not choose to have the disease, they should be able to choose if they wish to elongate the
Everyone has experienced a moment where the pressure is just too much, the pain is too unbearable or nothing ever seems right. It is life, life contains hacks, trails and obstacles. It would not be life without it, the same concept goes for medical issues. J. Gay- Williams addresses the reasons euthanasia should not be an option to be legal in his essay. He justifies his reason for his position with the fact that illnesses are a part of life. Williams position of disregarding euthanasia is rational because a life is a valuable thing to waste or gamble with.
Cotton, Paul. "Medicine's Position Is Both Pivotal And Precarious In Assisted Suicide Debate." The Journal of the American Association 1 Feb. 1995: 363-64.
Technology is changing every day in our lives. From leapfrog technology to help us become better as we start to learn as little kids to saving lives and predicting rate of survival. Technology changes rapidly to help us and make everyone's life better. Our life may become easier thanks to technology, but what about all of the malfunctions or inaccurate information technology may bring us. Starting at the rate of survival, following the age of the patient, ending it with the reliability of the technology. Will all of this be right to prolong life just by using a machine. From the story “Medical Technology and Ethical Issues” by William E Thompson and Joseph V Hickey. I’ll discuss why I think we should not prolong life with medical technology machines like the RIP Machine
A divergent set of issues and opinions involving medical care for the very seriously ill patient have dogged the bioethics community for decades. While sophisticated medical technology has allowed people to live longer, it has also caused protracted death, most often to the severe detriment of individuals and their families. Ira Byock, director of palliative medicine at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, believes too many Americans are “dying badly.” In discussing this issue, he stated, “Families cannot imagine there could be anything worse than their loved one dying, but in fact, there are things worse.” “It’s having someone you love…suffering, dying connected to machines” (CBS News, 2014). In the not distant past, the knowledge, skills, and technology were simply not available to cure, much less prolong the deaths of gravely ill people. In addition to the ethical and moral dilemmas this presents, the costs of intensive treatment often do not realize appreciable benefits. However, cost alone should not determine when care becomes “futile” as this veers medicine into an even more dangerous ethical quagmire. While preserving life with the best possible care is always good medicine, the suffering and protracted deaths caused from the continued use of futile measures benefits no one. For this reason, the determination of futility should be a joint decision between the physician, the patient, and his or her surrogate.
He determines patient’s understanding of diagnosis and prognosis, along with treatment options (Orentlicher, Pope, & Rich, 2016). They are required to provide informed consent by discussing alternative end of life options. In addition, physicians encourage discussion with family members to determine what other factors may be driving the patient’s decision. Often times the patient desires help in approaching the topic and their decision with family and the physician aids the patient in to informing family of his decision to terminate life (Orentlicher, Pope, & Rich, 2016). With not only one but two physicians evaluating the patient and his competency to make such a decision, the law protects even the vulnerable of
The title of this article is called “Medical Technology and Ethical Issues” which is written by William E. Thompson and Joseph V. Hickey. This article is about a hospital that uses this computer program called RIP. RIP decides whether a patient will live or die based on the data that is entered by a staff member. Throughout the article, critics and medical ethicist are very critical, second-guessing and debating about the whole computer program. Based on this entire article about doctors using a computer program in the emergency room, I would not be comfortable with using this program if it was me because 9 times out of 10 the computer can be wrong and it’s more comforting to trust the knowledge from an actual doctor.
These questions must be weighed on the benefits of the treatment versus the burden of the treatment. It may prolong life but will it make the life better or just lengthen the suffering that the patient has to go through. These and many other considerations must be taken in account in order to assure the best decision for the patient. Money can also be a factor in extraordinary treatment. Some people can’t afford to have their loved ones in a hospital for very long especially if they are in a coma or other severe illness, and might not be able to afford a long-term hospital bill. Also if there is a very slim chance of success with the procedure it may not be worth trying to save or preserve the life of the patient. Sometimes you may need to take the individual’s opinion on the treatments advice. If they are able to give a competent decision shouldn’t it be used to dete...
The average person in the United States lives to be approximately 77 years old. What if the average life expectancy could be increased to 112 years old? Many aspects of life could be improved because people could become very skilled at what they do. Through many scientists’ hard work and research they have reason to believe that it could actually be possible for the average life expectancy to reach 112 years of age (Than 1). However, with these scientists’ getting closer to figuring out the secrets of aging come many social, legal, and ethical issues. In this paper I will talk about two forms of life extending technology that are currently available, the social, legal, and ethical issues involving life extending technology, why I believe life extending technology is a negative right, and why I believe that medical scientists’ should continue researching life extending technology.