Solved by a verified expert :Week 8 discussion
A baby is born with anencephaly, or absence of the entire
brain above the brainstem. The brainstem is intact, which means that the baby
can breathe and have a heart beat and blood pressure, but there is no chance
for any human brain function or cognition, due to this birth defect. The health
care team begins to educate the mother, since children with this deficit
generally die shortly after birth. However, the mother is devoutly religious,
and her minister has told her that if she prays hard enough to God, that God
will work a miracle and her baby’s brain will heal itself. She is insistent
that all possible care be given to her baby, including a months-long stay in
the ICU, constant care by a caregiver, regular brain scans, and other expensive
modalities. The hospital, finding her adamant, asks the court for guardianship
of the baby, with the medical plan to provide only maintenance care with no
life-prolonging techniques until the baby dies. What are the ethical issues at
play here? How do the principles of autonomy, beneficence, nonmalfeasance, and
justice manifest themselves? If you were called as an ethical consultant, what
would you do/recommend?
DQ2
A 94-year-old woman is admitted to your hospital with
dehydration, trouble breathing, and possible kidney failure. She is clearly in
advanced Alzheimer’s, weighs about 95 pounds, and shows multiple bruises on her
body. She cannot talk. Her caregiver attributes the bruises to a blood disorder
that reduces clotting. What are your thoughts about this situation? What kind
of investigation would you conduct? What actions would you take to be in
compliance with ethical principles?
