Journal 6

Alex Marr

Journal 6

            My final article that I read for my research was “When Doctors and Daughters Disagree: Twenty-Two Days and Two Blinks of an Eye,” found in the Ethics, Public Policy, and Medical Economics book.  The article begins by giving a scenario where a dying old woman had decided in advance that she did not want to be intubated or put on life support.  However, when put in a life-threatening situation and when she was unconscious, her daughters both made the decision to intubate her, despite knowing her wishes.  After twenty-two days, the mother became conscious and indicated she wanted to be taken off any medical treatment.  The daughters agreed and the mother died peacefully.  The article then describes the opinion of the two daughters at the time and how they only wanted to see their mother live.  The article then explains the frustrations of physicians regarding the decision and how they changed their approach to making this decision after the mother died.

            This article had both similarities and differences to my previous articles.  When compared to my last article, this article had similar thoughts regarding the physician’s view on a terminally ill patient on life support.  The physician interviewed in the article believed that he should do everything he can to save a patient because that is his job and he might be able to save a life.  However, he also realized that patients have a right to refuse treatment.  But, when they are unable to make the decision, it ultimately comes down to the family.  The role of the family is a new perspective that the previous articles have not given me.

            This article made me realize a whole new perspective in my argument, the role of the family in end of life decisions.  Beforehand, I believed that the physicians had to follow the living will of the patient if it was properly made and communicated before.  However, with this article, I learned that physicians go to the family when the patient is unable to make a end of life decision.  While it is wise to see the family’s output on the situation, the family cannot always be a reliable source for decision-making.  For example, after their mother died, the daughters were interviewed and claimed they realized what they were doing but they just wanted to do whatever they could in order to save their mother.  Doctors may also have an effect on the decision as they describe what positive outcomes could happen to the family, despite it being a very low chance.  I think that the overall message should be to communicate early with your family and doctors so that they all clearly understand what you want to happen should the situation arise.  Ultimately, the family can play a very influential role in the decision but it is up to the patient to make sure their ideals are known beforehand.

            This article obviously brought to light the new perspective of the family in the decision making process and how they can be influenced to make a different decision in the moment.  Most of my questions now have been answered by my research, as I have looked at all the perspectives about the ethics of making end of life decisions and who should make the decision.  I have seen why some believe the patient should be the only one to make the decision, the physician’s perspective, and now the side of the family and how they think about the decision.  Through all these perspectives, I now can write an exploratory essay synthesizing the different views.