Patients Right to Choose - Essay Example

"Patient’s Right to Choose" is a wonderful example of a paper on medical ethics.
Bouvia was a woman who was terminally ill with cerebral palsy. She had total paralysis, which led her to relocate to a psychiatric ward. In addition, she also suffered from degenerative arthritis that caused her intense pain (Longmore, 1987). In this case, the patient’s autonomy was violated to a certain extent as she was denied the possibility to starve to death. The patient’s condition could not be improved and she was living in intense pain. Bouvia was also mentally competent, which means she was able to make her own decision. The minimal requirements of individual autonomy include acknowledging the rights an individual has to make decisions and possess viewpoints on the basis of his or her own personal beliefs and values. In Bouvia’s case, this was not respected until many court appeals.

In this situation, the medical authorities in charge of taking care of her did not honor her autonomy and chose to force-feed her. As mentioned above, the criteria for autonomy were present as Bouvia was mentally competent. In addition, she was suffering from a chronic and progressive incurable disease, and living in pain. In this situation, the doctors were not acting in the interest of the patient, but rather upholding societal norms. They forced her to live a painful life in a psychologically tormenting state. The conclusion of the case is that there is an obvious problem that exists in autonomy situations where the interests of the patient often contradict those of the stakeholder or society.