Abstract
Health care is overwhelmingly a profession of pathos. The emotional strain of coping with crisis tells on nurses, physicians, and other health care providers just as it shatters the stability of the sick one and those close to him. Nothing, however, exceeds the agony of coping with the child in desperate and acute crisis—where those standing at the bedside know that the outcome may be severe handicap or even death. We lash out at the world demanding explanation, grasping for guidance. It is appropriate that a volume be published that deals with these most tragic cases. It is fitting that we have addressed the social, psychological, and religious dimensions of the terminally ill child.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
References and Notes
Beauchamp, T. L and Perlin, S. (Eds.): Ethical Issues in Death and Dying. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1978.
Fuchs, V. R.; Who Shall Live? New York: Basic Books, 1974.
Jonsen, A. R., and Garland, M. J. (Eds.): Ethics of Newborn Intensive Care. San Francisco: Health Policy Program, School of Medicine, University of California and Berkeley: Institute of Governmental Studies, University of California, 1976.
Ramsey, P.: Ethics at the Edges of Life—Medical and Legal Intersections. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1978.
Swinyard, C.A., (Ed.): Decision Making and the Defective Newborn. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C Thomas, 1978.
Veatch, R. M: Death, Dying, and the Biological Revolution—Our Last Quest for Responsibility. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1976.
Weir, R. F (Ed.) Ethical Issues in Death and Dying. New York: Columbia University Press, 1977.
Veatch, R M.: The Hippocratic ethic: Consequentialism, individualism, and paternalism, in No Rush to Judgment• Essays on Medical Ethics, David H. Smith and Linda M. Bernstein (Eds.). Bloomington, Indiana: The Poynter Center, Indiana University, 1978, pp. 238–265.
Ramsey: Ethics at the Edges of Life, pp. 171–181.
Superintendant of Belchertoum State School and Another v. Joseph Saikewicz. Mass. Adv. Sh. 2461, 2501, 370 N.E 2d 417. Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, November 28, 1977.
Ibid., p. 425.
The California Natural Death Act. Chapter 3.9, Part 1 of Division of the Health and Safety Code.
U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare: The Interagency Committee on New Therapies for Pain and Discomfort—Report to the White House. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, May 1979, pp. IV-3.
See Veatch, Death, Dying, and the Biological Revolution, pp. 105–10.
Imbus, S. H., and Zawacki, B. Z.: Autonomy for burn patients when survival is unprecedented. N. Engl J. Med. 297:308, 1977.
Pope Pius XII: The prolongation of life. The Pope Speaks 4:395, 1958.
Lorber, J.: Results of treatment of myelomeningocele. Dev. Med. Child Neurol. 13:290, 1971.
Lorber, J.: Selective treatment of myelomeningocele: To treat or not to treat? Pediatrics 53:307, 1974.
Lorber, J.: Early results of selective treatment of spina bifida cystica. Br. Med. J. 4:201, 1973.
Stein, Sherman C, Schut, Luis, and Ames, Mary D.: Selection for early treatment in myelomeningocele: A retrospective analysis of various selection procedures. Pediatrics 54:556, 1974.
Veatch, R. M.: The technical criteria fallacy. Hastings Center Rep. 7:15, 1977.
See, In the Matter of Karen Quinlan, 70 N.J. 10, 355 A. 2d 647. Supreme Court of New Jersey, March 31, 1976.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1981 Aubrey Milunsky
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Veatch, R.M. (1981). Ethics and the Care of the Child with Terminal Illness. In: Milunsky, A. (eds) Coping with Crisis and Handicap. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-3231-2_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-3231-2_10
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-3233-6
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-3231-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive