End-of-Life Care: Healthcare Practitioners

End-of-Life Care Your Name Subject and Section Professor’s Name March 29, 2019 Introduction Ethics is important in almost any field of study. Its consideration allows scholars and practitioners alike to engage in the practice while also giving importance to the rights of other human beings. Accordingly, one of the fields where this importance can be seen is in the field of Medicine. Healing others mean more than simply knowing the technicalities of the illness that people experience, but also other elements of their well-being such as their mental and emotional health, dignity, and even their happiness, among others. In line with this, this article would try to explore the relationship between ethics and medicine. The author would try to provide a summary of an article about ethical dilemma that any practitioner could face as well as the possibilities on how to deal with such issues. In the succeeding chapters of this article, a deeper analysis of such ethical problem would be provided in relation to its importance to the betterment to the whole practice. All in all, the author of this article believes that by understanding the basic norms, laws, and customs related in the practice, one could be able to become a much better healthcare practitioner. Summary of the Article The main article in focus in this paper is entitled “End-of-Life, Physician-Assisted Dying Challenge Traditional Medical Ethics” CITATION Mor18 \l 1033 (Moran, 2018). The article talks about how physician-assisted dying poses a great challenge for the field of medical ethics. Initially, the author discussed the case of a patient named SungEun Grace Lee, who was “diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor”. As a treatment for this, Lee underwent several treatments regularly, such as chemotherapy and radiation, which causes a variety of adverse symptoms such as nausea, balding, and anemia, among others. Although, she was able to lessen the onset of cancer, she then suffered a seizure, which left her in life support with only a feeding tube supporting her. Due to her suffering, Lee asked that her life support be withdrawn. This led to a series of cases among the parties, with her parents assailing her own decision claiming that Lee’s decision would be tantamount to suicide. Unfortunately, even though Lee changed her mind, she died in February 2013 as she succumbed from the fatal effects of her disease. Aside from the case cited above, the article in focus discussed other recent news that talked about difficult situations that plenty of practitioners face in the course of their own practice. Specifically, it asked the question; “How do doctors balance respect for patient autonomy and for the value of a “dignified death” with the duty to “do no harm” and the traditionally understood obligation to preserve life” CITATION Mor18 \l 1033 (Moran, 2018). Accordingly, the author noted how important psychiatrists are when it comes to answering this question. Doctor Bostwick, a psychiatrist from the Mayo Clinic has noted that there is a difference as to how people thinks when they are still alive, as well as during times when they see death as more or less imminent and perhaps a much better solution of easing their own suffering. They added that being i...