Con position - Unwilling patients should undergo routine lifesaving procedures against their will - Essay Example

Key Legal Concepts Unit Introduction Life saving procedures are knowledge and skills required to sustain the operational condition of a human being in case of any emergencies. For example, when dealing with casualties, one needs to maintain and open the airways of the patient as the first priority. If the patient is breathing, then the doctor or the first aider should place him in a certain position that will help him recover. However, if a patient has stopped breathing, he should be assisted by compressing his chest and rescuing his breath.

In some cases, patients have to undergo lifesaving procedures unwillingly in order to save their lives. In this regard, my position in such views is that patients should not undergo routine lifesaving procedures against their will. As much as making them undergo the life saving procedures is for their own good, doing so against their will is illegal. Pozgar (2012) claims that medical directives passed a Do Not resuscitate order explaining the concept of patient self-rule to some situations in which they are not able to make some crucial decisions because of incapacitation.

This law instructs the doctors not to perform resuscitation cardiopulmonary or life-saving procedures to patients against their will and other life procedures in terms of restarting the breathing or heart once it ceases. This medical order is one of the key legal concepts that place medical limits in terms of treatment, as well as guides the doctors on the options and wishes of the patient and therefore helps the patient’s family members make decisions according to patient’s wishes. Therefore, one should not resuscitate a patient against his will.

Additionally, some doctors tend to take advantage on the patient’s situation or illness and can prefer to perform life saving procedures on the patient. Ashton, Barbara, Lyer, & Shea (2006) claim that there are some circumstances that exist before taking a human life, in which such decisions must be approved and justified. Guidelines should be followed in the medical grounds when it comes to making some decisions on patients who are extremely ill or have severe injuries that are hard to establish.

Despite some life procedures designed to avoid the suffering of the patient, in some medical cases which are irreversible, medical personnel should not use them on patients against their will. This is because the procedures should only be used on the patients if they have communicated or authorized to be saved in case of emergencies (Pozgar, 2012). Additionally, some patients die because of some procedures and legal cases arise if the medical personnel used the procedures on them against their will.

Indeed, medical persons face difficulties when confronted with patients whose life saving measures are not justified. However, as Pozgar (2012) claims, it is unethical to use life saving procedures to such patients against their will. In medical practice taking a utilitarian approach on a patient who is terminally ill, forbids the termination of human lives. Nonetheless, in some cases patients do survive even if life saving procedures are not performed on them. For example, some doctors may use the procedures on those patients who are in ICU and as a result, make the sickness worse, thus the patient dies.

Therefore, use of life saving procedures against their will is unethical and illegal.Conclusion The question of whether to use life saving procedures on patients against their will has a long history and cannot be morally justified. Such problem arises when medical personnel try to justify ending the life of those patients who are terminally ill or those with unbearable pain. However, it is unethical to use the procedures on patients against their will, because it is illegal and unethical, in addition to causing deaths.

However, in an effort to reduce such cases, there are key legal aspects that have been established in order to prevent medical workers from using the procedures on patients against their will. For example, Do Not resuscitate and if in doubt, favor life, are some of medical laws that have been established. ReferencesPozgar.G, (2012). Legal Aspects of Health Care Administration. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Barlett ( ISBN-13: 9780763780494)Ashton, K., Barbara, J., Shea, M.A., & Lyer, P.W. (2006). Medical legal aspects of medical records.

Tucson, AZ: Lawyers & Judges Pub. Co. Pg 13-28. Retrieved from: http://www.worldcat.org/title/medical-legal-aspects-of-medical-records/oclc/61860835