As medicine becomes ever more complex, so do the ethical dilemmas facing medical staff, patients and their families.
In this new three-part series, Inside the Ethics Committee, Vivienne Parry presents real life cases to a panel of experts from clinical ethics committees in hospitals around the UK.
In the final programme, the panel discusses the difficult ethics surrounding treatment withdrawal.
This week - they consider the case of a man in his late sixties with a chronic lung condition. He was admitted to hospital with breathing difficulties and eventually had a tracheotomy. A hole was cut in his neck and a breathing tube, attached to a ventilator, was inserted directly into his lungs.
When doctors asked him about future treatment, sometimes he wanted everything to be done to keep him alive. At other times, he wrote statements such as 'I want to die'.
However, his next of kin was adamant that treatment shouldn't be withdrawn.
Ethical issues
- How much do advanced directives, or 'living wills', override doctor's opinions on the best interests of their patient?
- How do medical staff judge if a patient is 'competent'?
- Are doctors prolonging this patient's life or just delaying his death?
- How much consideration should be given to other patients, desperately in need of intensive care beds?
