Abstract
In this concluding section I will not repeat the points I made earlier in the book, though I will refer to them. I am not clinically trained. I am not a physician or a nurse. Thus I cannot be sure that the cases were properly and unambiguously designed. Perhaps there is a valid medical basis for the varying prognoses and treatment options. I am not able to make medical comments on what the various doctors would do. But I can put myself in the position of the many patients and families who request the ethics consultations in which I and my students take part. The patients may have gotten, or may think they have gotten, different prognoses and different treatment options from the different doctors who examined them. I think this problem is most apparent in the case of Patient A and so I will start there.
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References
Ratiu P, Singer P: The ethics and economics of heroic surgery. Hastings Cent Rep 2001;31:47–8.
In re Helga Wanglie, Fourth Judicial District (Dist Ct, Probate Ct Div 1991) PX-91–283. Minnesota, Hennepin County.
National Conference of Catholic Bishops: Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services. Washington, DC: USCCB Publishing, 2001.
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Kelly, D.F. (2002). Discussion of the Ethical Aspects of Futility. In: Crippen, D., Kilcullen, J.K., Kelly, D.F. (eds) Three Patients. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0939-4_25
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0939-4_25
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