Ethics-Governance: Article: Ethics Article of the Month

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Ethics Article of the Month The Ethics Of Forgoing Treatment At The End Of Life, Dr Paulina Taboada, Profesor Centro de Bioetica Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile Alameda 340 Correo Central 1 Santiago, Chile. A basic ethical intuition tells us that we have an moral obligation to preserve life and health. Nevertheless, it is evident that nobody is obliged use all available medical interventions, but rather only those offering a reasonable benefit/risk ratio. A more difficult question is whether one can refuse medical interventions that may entail potential benefits. The care for patients at the end of life frequently confronts us with this kind of questions. In an attempt to distinguish morally obligatory from morally non-obligatory medical interventions, a conceptual distinction between ‘proportionate’ and ‘disproportionate’ medical interventions has been proposed (also known as ‘ordinary’ and ‘extraordinary’ means). Full Article: http://www.hospicecare.com/Ethics/monthlypiece/eithics2002/pom_july.htm


2006 Ethics-Governance.com