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Utilitarian Approach

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For my paper this week I chose to write on option one, an elderly man who is suffering from terminal cancer and his son wants to take him off the respirator and IV drip. This scenario to me is a difficult one to discuss whether it is ethical for the doctor to abide by the son’s wishes. You could argue both ways whether this is ethical or not. In this scenario I think it is ethical for the son to ask the doctor to stop the respirator and IV drip. The patient is on heavy pain medication, an IV with antibiotics and a respirator, which is helping to keep him comfortable and ultimately alive. The patient has signed a DNR, which is attached to his charts. At this point the patient is slipping in and out of consciousness and the doctor believes …show more content…

This decision involves doing the right thing, either to keep the patient alive to continue undergoing physical suffering or to end the suffering. I think the doctor needs to make sure that the son has all the information on what happens when they withhold or withdraw medical treatment. The utilitarian approach may be used to address the issue of the withdrawal of treatment. People could use the utilitarian approach in a good and bad way depending on who the person is. A person that want’s to withhold treatment for his or her own prerogative and not in the best interest of the patient would make that person happy. On the other hand a person that wants to withhold treatment because they think it is in the best interest of the patient is making a good person happy. Another approach that could be applied is the deontological approach. Kant believed that motive is the key to morality and subscribed to the fact that the Categorical Imperative, good will and duty are the foundations for moral actions. Kant’s Categorical Imperative teaches that to be moral, one must act in such a way that they would be willing for those actions to become a universal law. The physician under Kantian law must feel that the omission is the right thing to do out of rational

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The ethical principle of autonomy provides for respect for the patient’s autonomy to make decisions and choices concerning their life and death. Respecting the patient’s autonomy goes against the principles of beneficence and non-maleficence. There also exists the issue of religious beliefs the patient, family, or the caretaker holds, with which the caretaker has to grapple. The caretaker thus faces issues of fidelity to patient welfare by not abandoning the patient or their family, compassionate provision of pain relief methods, and the moral precept to neither hasten death nor prolong life.

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A utilitarian perspective may argue that the idea of ‘covert medication administration’ should be considered ethical as it produces the greatest overall balance of benefits and harms. The benefit may be seen as improved patient compliance with the medicine, with less of an issue concerning agitation, and somewhat of an improved safety protocol for both the patients and the healthcare workers. This could potentially aid in the outcome for patients as a result of taking their medication as prescribed. Utilitarians take into account the potential for trust to be broken between patients and healthcare professionals and the possibility of biases in treatment when considering the utility of an action. A utilitarian may argue that the benefits of a certain practice outweigh the harms, particularly in cases where the patient cannot make decisions or is unable to understand or consent to treatment.

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It is nearly impossible for the patient to rely on another person to make the best decision that they would have made for themselves, particularly when it involves personal interests such as profiting from a will. If there is something to gain, the family members’ motives seem questionable. If the patient falls ill, then there lies a possibility that their heirs will hope for the patient’s death so that they could receive their inheritance. The inability to confirm whether the family actually has the patient’s best interest in mind supports the argument that any form of euthanasia is unethical. Moreover, health care costs for terminally ill patients, including nursing homes, prescription drugs, and home health care deserves consideration.

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The physician is rendering the aid the patient requests and respecting the patient’s autonomous decision to exercise their right to

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When a terminally ill patient undergoes long and grueling unsuccessful treatments, the patient may lose a sense of hope for living and accept their death. Then they may go on to wanting control over their death and leading a patient to pursue PAS. Terminally ill patients are usually weak, tired, and uncomfortable. These are some of the main factors that qualify a patient for PAS because they interfere and prevent the patient from having a good quality of life. In addition, a patient may request PAS to lessen the financial burden of unnecessary medical procedures.

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Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative and John Stuart Mill’s view of utilitarianism are two very different approaches to ethics and morals. In fact, they are the opposite of one another. Kant’s view of ethics is an ethics of pure reason- a deontological theory of ethics. He stresses that feelings and emotions should have no part in ethics because they are unreliable, changeable, and uncertain. He states that ethical principles must be universal and that ethics are distinctively human.

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All in all this is a tough decision, especially for the nurses because they are faced with ethical dilemmas on a daily basis and it’s hard to make the right decision while trying to advocate for the patient at the same time. (Poikkeus

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Hypothetical imperatives are duties that people ought to observe if certain ends are to be achieved. Categorical imperatives are the absolute and universal laws that guide moral actions. Kant believed that moral actions must be based on unconditional reasoning. Kant’s deontological principles of hypothetical imperatives and categorical imperatives have significantly influenced the medical field.

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Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill are two of the most notable philosophers in normative ethics. This branch of ethics is based on moral standards that determine what is considered morally right and wrong. This paper will focus on Immanuel Kant’s theory of deontology and J.S. Mill’s theory of utilitarianism. While Mill takes a consequentialist approach, focused on the belief that actions are right if they are for the benefit of a majority, Kant is solely concerned with the nature of duty and obligation, regardless of the outcome. This paper will also reveal that Kantian ethics, in my opinion, is a better moral law to follow compared to the utilitarian position.

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