What I would do

The "Audience response questions" did not work very well. No one responded! haha

Truthfully, it's not fair of me to ask people what they would have done... it's a hard topic and it would not have been anonymous. In class, we voted with clickers and there was no way to tell who said what. But I'll tell you how I voted, and then what actually happened in these two real cases.

In the case of the newborn Down syndrome whose parents refuse the life saving surgery, I would

b. Apply for court appointed guardianship so that an operation can be performed to save the child’s life.

I think this would cover the legal aspect of going against the wishes of the parents and give the child a chance at life. What actually happened was:

e. Leave the child at hospital B to die under the care of the house staff and nurses

It was explained that this was the decision of the medical team involved. They felt this was the most ethical choice. It makes me really sad.

In the case of the 25 year old severely burned in a motor vehicle accident and wanted his doctors and nurses to end his life, I would

d. Request psychiatric consultation to declare the patient incompetent to make decisions regarding his own care

... with the caveat that I wouldn't be pushing for the consultation to automatically declare the patient incompetent, rather be trying to determine if the patent was competent enough to make the decision to end his life. My feelings are that I would want to be able to make my own decisions about my life and care if ever in such a painful, devastating and unbearable situation. Therefore, this man should be allowed to make his own decisions if he was competent enough to do so.

What actually happened was the b. Consider the patient incapable of requesting withdrawal of care and continue regardless of patient wishes. The patient, Dax Cowart, is famous in the medical ethics world. Should the patient have the right to die? Dax subsequently went on to get married, go to law school and fight for the rights of patients to choose their fate.