8-1 Final Project II Submission: Bioethics

8-1 Final Project II Submission: Bioethics
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Terri Schiavo Case Bioethics Analysis
Terri Schiavo Case is one of the most controversial medical cases in the United States. The cases featured the maternal family of Terri Schiavo and her husband. Schiavo’s husband indicated that she would not agree to be in a vegetable state, while her parent insisted on the need to keep her life (Perry, Churchill & Kirshner, 2005). Terri Schiavo collapsed in her house due to lack of adequate oxygen supply to the brain (Silverman, 2005). The doctors were unable to revive her consciousness but placed her under life support machine for feeding and access to oxygen. Terri Schiavo’s parents wanted her to receive nourishment while her husband pushed for the removal of the feeding tube (Kinlaw, 2005). The state authorities passed a law to block the removal of the tube that was later overturned by Florida court system in 2005. The stakeholders, in this case, included the Terri Schiavo’s parents, Michael Schiavo and the medical team.
Ethics entail a person’s believe about the right or wrong in the society. Bioethics mainly focuses on the ethical practices in the medical environment. An evaluation of the arguments of the different stakeholders involved in Schiavo’s case shows contradicting ethical perceptions among the concerned parties (Silverman, 2005). The right to live is one of the core guiding principles in medicine. The person should make their decision regarding the fate of their lives in a medical situation represented in the case (Quill, 2005).

While Mrs. Schiavo had not indicated the actions to be taken in such situations, her parents and the husband had the right to determine the most appropriate action at the time (Koch, 2005). The doctors at the hospital argued that her brain was damaged beyond reverse, which indicates that the removal of the tube was the best course of action (Kinlaw, 2005). The decision to remove the tube was mainly influenced by the political and social aspects of bioethics as represented by the courts and Michael Schiavo. In this case, the decision was ethically correct provided that Michael was her primary guardian and had argued that Mrs. Schiavo would not agree to live in a vegetative state.
In conclusion, Schiavo’s tube was removed based on various ethical factors. One of the factors is that doctors had indicated that her state was irreversible, which would lead to heavy financial and emotional burden on the husband. Secondly, the courts ruled in favor of the removal of the tube based on the doctor’s evaluation of Schiavo’s state and the arguments presented by her husband. In this case, the decision was bioethically appropriate given the dismal chance for her survival in the long run.

References
Kinlaw, K. (2005, February). Ethical issues in palliative care. In Seminars in oncology nursing (Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 63-68). WB Saunders
Koch, T. (2005). The challenge of Terri Schiavo: lessons for bioethics. Journal of medical ethics, 31(7), 376-378.
Perry, J. E., Churchill, L. R., & Kirshner, H. S. (2005). The Terri Schiavo case: legal, ethical, and medical perspectives. Annals of Internal Medicine, 143(10), 744-748.
Silverman, H. J. (2005). Withdrawal of feeding-tubes from incompetent patients: the Terri Schiavo case raises new issues regarding who decides in end-of-life decision making. Intensive care medicine, 31(3), 480-481.
Quill, T. E. (2005). Terri Schiavo—a tragedy compounded. New England Journal of Medicine, 352(16), 1630-1633.