CASE STUDY

Case Study

If you could ask only two key questions of the life partner before discussing the matter with the team, what would they be?

As it is about asking questions to the life partner of the patient, the first question will obviously be related to the two possible results of the treatment. I will first let her know about the difficulties that the patient will have to go through for the treatment. I will also let her know that if the treatment goes well and the patient is able to tackle the difficulties he faces during the treatment, he will obviously be treated fully and recover from the disease. Moreover, I will also let her know the other side of the fact that if the patient is not able to resist the difficulties that he will have to face during the treatment or if the treatment is not effective or something goes wrong in the treatment, the consequences will be really worse. The patient might lose his life earlier then what is expected due to the illness or disease (Lakhan, et al., 2009).

The second question that I will ask her will be about her decision on whether or not we shall start the treatment, if the patient himself refuses to get the treatment. Her decision and answer to this question will matter a lot as the patient is not in his full senses and is not in a position to make the decision. Being his life partner, she can give the best answer possible to this issue.

In your own words, what do you feel is the one strongest ethical argument for the procedure, and the one strongest ethical argument against it?

The strongest ethical argument that I think exists for the procedure is that, being a doctor, it is my foremost duty ...