Donald (Dax) Cowart Case Study

The Donald (Dax) Cowart case gave me more of an awareness of how important a patient’s rights are. This case established why listening to the patient is significant and how violating their right to refuse treatment can impact their future. Dax was severely burned and he would have died if he was not treated. The treatments were excruciating and Dax just really wanted to die. Instead of allowing him to refuse treatment and end his life the doctors told him they were going to treat him so he can have a future. They told Dax that could kill himself once he left the hospital so his death would not be on their hands. Dax was released from the hospital after months of painful procedures but many parts of his body were deformed and lost the ability to function properly, including his hands. He also lost his eyesight and became blind. He is now married and has a successful career, but it came after years of severe depression and multiple suicide attempts. You can still see his struggles and he still questions if all of that pain was worth it. Just because the medical professionals have the technology and the skill to save/ treat a patient it does not give them the right to do so.

The Tatiana Tarasoff

We have laws in place based on cases including that of Donald (Dax) Cowart and Tatiana Tarasoff. While reading the Donald (Dax) Cowart case I felt as though the doctors were more concerned with they wanted rather than what Dax wanted. They did not want Dax’s death to be on their hands. It wouldn’t have been because it would have been Dax’s decision. In the Tatiana Tarasoff case, the therapist did not take Poddar’s threat as serious as he should of. He should have offered more treatment to Poddar and expressed more concern in his mental state. This may have lead to Poddar being hospitalized, and then if things got extreme he could have warned