Ethics and Medicine - Essay Example

I think the physician made a sound and ethical decision to order a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR), which was supported by the hospital’s Optimum Care Committee (OCC). This is despite the fact that Gilgunn had wanted every possible medical action taken. The duration Gilgunn had stayed in the hospital was sufficient to inform the OCC that ordering a cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) would not result in her meaningful survival. The extensive brain damage she had would leave her in a state of permanent loss of consciousness.

Solving legal issues associated to advance directives has its complications. The key problem is the amount of information that had been given to the patient and the surrogate at the time the decision was being made (Menikoff, Sachs, & Siegler, 1992). Like in Gilgunn’s case, she might have wanted anything possible tried, but no one had informed her and her family of the futility of the resuscitation attempts and the state it could have left her in. At the time of her death, she was not in a capacity to be told or decide.

In such cases, surrogates will sue without enough medical information to enable them to understand why doctors could not honor the advance directives (Menikoff, Sachs, & Siegler, 1992).