Preview

What Is The Terri Schiavo Case Unethical

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1012 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
What Is The Terri Schiavo Case Unethical
Ethical Theory on the Terri Schiavo case
Cindy Sherman
Title of Class: Ethics in Society

The Terri Schiavo case was a legal struggle involving prolonged life support in the United States that lasted from 1990 to 2005. The issue was whether to carry out the decision of the husband of Teresa Marie "Terri" Schiavo to terminate life support for her. Terri was diagnosed by doctors as being in a persistent vegetative state. The highly publicized and prolonged series of legal challenges presented by her parents and by state and federal legislative intervention effected a seven-year delay before life support finally was terminated (Baynews.com).

Moral absolutism is an ethical view that certain actions are absolutely right or wrong, …show more content…
In the Terri Schiavo case there are many point of view that may be expressed by moral absolutism. Many activists opposed Terri Schiavo’s death on the grounds of moral absolutism. An example of moral absolutists in this case would be the complexities of medical diagnosis: in a persistent vegetative state, which the courts ruled described Terri 's condition; a person is "awake but not aware." There is a loss of cognitive neurological functions like thinking and speaking, but retention of non-cognitive functions like respiration, blood circulation, a normal sleep cycle, and reflexive actions like grasping a finger or eye movement. Still, one of the most debated topics in philosophy and neuroscience right now, and one that sells a ton of books, is the very definition of "consciousness" (Clendenin 2005). Those who sided with Schiavo’s parents in their
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Schiavo's Case Timeline
    • 1946 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Schiavo's Case Timeline

    • November 1992: Terri’s husband, Michael Schiavo, wins malpractice suit; awarded $700,000 for her care plus an additional $300,000…

    • 1946 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    M4 Ethics Midterm Assignment: Terri Schiavo's Case
    • 2096 Words
    • 9 Pages

    M4 Ethics Midterm Assignment: Terri Schiavo's Case

    The first time the case went to court was to resolve the dispute over her neurologic devastation and how her parents and her husband were interpreting her wishes regarding life support. The courts ruled in her husband’s favor, that Terri would not want continued life support and the decision was made to withdraw life sustaining treatment. Her parents appealed the decision to remove treatment and won, because their physicians stated that Terri was not in a permanent vegetative state. Her husband and parents again went to court regarding PVS, and once again her husband was granted the right to remove…

    • 2096 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Bush V. Schiavo Case Study
    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Bush V. Schiavo Case Study

    Procedural History: Mr. Schiavo requested the guardianship court to permit him to end the life-prolonging procedures that were supporting his wife, who was in a persistent vegetative state. Theresa Schiavo’s parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, opposed the motion and brought the case in to trial. After the court granted Mr. Schiavo to end the life-prolonging procedures, the case was brought to the appellate level which affirmed the decision. Although the guardianship court’s order was affirmed during the appeal, allowing Mr. Schiavo to stop the procedures, the litigation continued because Mr. and Ms. Schindler’s filed a motion for relief from judgment under Florida Civil Procedure and in civil division of the circuit court. The Second District agreed to review the evidence but ultimately affirmed the guardianship court’s decision in the end and gave Mr. Schiavo permission to remove Theresa’s nutrition tubes. However, six days later, under the Legislative enactment, Governor Bush sigh the Act of the Legislative into law and ordered Theresa Schiavo to continue staying on nutrition…

    • 802 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Terri Schiavo Case Summary
    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Terri Schiavo Case Summary

    The story of Terri Schiavo brought to the surface so many ethical dilemma that as healthy people we take for granted. The issue if advance directive became a bone of contention between a husband and the parents of his wife. Terri Schiavo was taken to the hospital after she collapsed on February 25, 1990, and she lost consciousness. She was without a pulse and was not breathing, the paramedics attempted resuscitation. She was taken to Humana Hospital where she was eventually was resuscitated. It was later diagnosed that she had a cardiac arrest with massive brain damage due to lack of oxygen. The cardiac arrest, it was discovered had been triggered by extreme hypokalemia. This was linked to her eating disorder which caused the potassium level to be 2.0. The normal range is 3.5 to 5.0/mEq/L (Pagana & Pagana, 2002, p. 372). One of the major consequences of hypokalemia, can be heart rhythm abnormalities. As a result, Terri suffered severe hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy and as time went on she showed no evidence of higher cortical function. Computed tomographic (CT) scans showed severe atrophy of her cerebral hemispheres, and her electroencephalograms (ECG) were flat, indicating no functional activity of her cerebral cortex (Quill, 2005, p. 1630). Terri had periods of wakefulness alternating with…

    • 678 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Summary Of The Long Goodbye: The Deaths Of Nancy Cruzan
    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Summary Of The Long Goodbye: The Deaths Of Nancy Cruzan

    It troubled him that the Judge Teel described Nancy’s condition as “unresponsive and hopeless” with “no cognitive purpose for her except sound and perhaps pain.” If Nancy feels pain then she is not in a persistent vegetative state (PVS). We did not know what was going on behind the scenes, but later it would all come to light. Our case bypassed the appellate court of Missouri and headed straight to the Missouri Supreme Court, with a little assistance. Our case was scheduled for review in September, along with a case that has opposite opinions as ours. In other words, the parents of a young man named Phillip Radar, that was diagnosed as being brain dead, did not want to let their child go, but the hospital caring for him did. Phillip’s heart was beating even though he was brain dead. Both of the cases were scheduled to be heard on the same morning in September, but on August 31st Phillip’s heart stopped and the effort to revive him was unsuccessful. His death left our case as the only one to be…

    • 772 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Quinlan Vs Wenland Case Study
    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Quinlan Vs Wenland Case Study

    court case to deal with the issue of end-of-life care was the matter of in re Quinlan, a 1976 New Jersey state court case. Quinlan became the first icon of the “right to die” movement. The case of Cruzan v. Director of Missouri Dep’t of Health took the end-of-life issue one step farther down the road toward active euthanasia. The Cruzan family wanted to remove their daughter’s food and water (ordinary care) rather than artificial life support (extraordinary care). The Court’s decision in favor of death by dehydration and starvation was made in 1990. Wendlends case was more unique he was still conscious so the courts decided that we must for now continue to operate on the assumption that life is the best interest for the non terminally ill patient. This case also points out how important it is to have a living will or POA that is aware of your wishes when it comes to living or…

    • 655 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Terri Schiavo Case Study
    • 1290 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Terri Schiavo Case Study

    Terri Schiavo never used to be the way she was in 2005 when she died. She was once a happy, healthy young woman, but when an unexpected collapse happened, everything changed. Terri’s husband, Michael Schiavo, heard a ‘thud’ in the middle of the night saw Terri on the floor, and called 911. Terri went into a couple month long coma. When she came out she was not at all the same. She had a feeding tube put in place and some say she was in a vegetative state, but was she really? She couldn’t do anything she was able to do before, but Michael and her parents wanted to do whatever they could to rescue her. But that didn’t last for long. Something changed inside of Michael and he wanted to take her off of life support when the feeding tube was the…

    • 1290 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Quinlan Case Study
    • 101 Words
    • 1 Page

    Quinlan Case Study

    Bernice, thank you for your post on the Quinlan case. I remembered hearing about the case when it was in the news but I did not follow the story. The Quinlan's legal case set precedent and established a patient's right to refuse medical care and control his or her own medical treatment. There were the development of advance directives, the creation of ethics committees in hospitals, nursing homes and hospices, and the invention of Health Care Proxies all because of Karen Ann Quinlan. Karen became the symbol of abuse of technology in this technological age. Thank you for your post.…

    • 101 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Summary: The Terri Schaivo Case
    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Summary: The Terri Schaivo Case

    Terri Schaivo entered a vegetative state in early 1990. Both her private doctors and those that were court appointed believed that there was no hope of rehabilitation. Terri’s husband, Michael Schiavo, wished to follow his wife’s request for no mechanical means of extending her life however, Terri’s parents disputed the removal of support. The Schaivo case was heard more than twenty times in Florida courts and in each instance the courts ruled in the husband’s favor. Eventually politicians inserted themselves into the case which became the catalyst for “Terri’s Law”, giving Governor Jeb Bush the authority to have Schaivo’s feeding tube re-inserted when a court ruled it removed. The U.S. Congress became involved shortly after “Terri’s Law” and passed legislation allowing federal courts to intervene. Terri Schaivo’s feeding tube was finally removed on March 18, 2005, and she passed away 13 days later. Upon autopsy, her brain was half the weight of a healthy human brain. The medical examiner was quoted as saying “The damage was irreversible. No amount of therapy or treatment would have regenerated the massive loss of neurons” (Goodnough,…

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Why Is Henrietta Lacks Unethical
    • 1232 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Why Is Henrietta Lacks Unethical

    Henrietta Lacks has become a well-known name in the science field today, but it wasn’t always like that. Before she was only known as HeLa, the first cells that could be cultured and “reproduced indefinitely,” the first line of immortal human cells (Epstein). Her cells have helped millions and have been used for countless experiments and tests, yet she herself wasn’t fully acknowledged until Rebecca Skloot wrote the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and her family was not informed that their mother’s cells were still alive until 1973, twenty two years after her death (Skloot). Henrietta’s case is only one of hundreds of cases where their doctors unethically treat the patients and their families.…

    • 1232 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    R. V. Latimer Case Study
    • 1187 Words
    • 5 Pages

    R. V. Latimer Case Study

    The reason I chose this case was due to the fact it was a popular case throughout my childhood and because my cousin was a quadriplegic and had a form of cerebral palsy where she was limited to being taken care of by medical and hospital staff I was just a small child at this time my family would have regular visits with her One summer she got extremely sick and went into a coma my aunt then had to make the decision to keep her on life support or to let her go So this case is very relevant to what happened but under different conditions and circumstances.…

    • 1187 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Barber V Superior Court
    • 637 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Barber V Superior Court

    In my opinion the two petitioners did not legally kill the victim in this case. I believe that the actual act of them removing the life support does not constitute a guilty act. To me it is more of an omission of modern medicine. The doctors had an obligation to help the victim with his health issues, but not a legal responsibility. Once the victim was in a vegetative state they could not do anything to bring him out of the coma, only continue his living in that state and taking care of him. They discussed the issue with the patient’s wife and children and were sure to explain that the chance of recovery was extremely unlikely if at all possible. The family gave the doctors consent to remove the victim from life support that would ultimately end his life. I also don’t see this omission of medical help as euthanasia as they did not induce his death. On the opposite side, if the doctors had given the victim a type of poison against the family’s wishes to keep him on life support, then I would consider that a murder. The facts of the case to me also show that the doctors and nursing staff did everything that they could to keep the victim alive and in…

    • 637 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Terri Schiavo Case
    • 297 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Terri Schiavo Case

    The Terri Schiavo case is very disturbing to me. I understand a family choosing to remove life support when someone is determined to be brain-dead but removing a feeding tube seems like a whole different issue. Essentially, a person is being starved to death. I realize that Terri Schiavo was basically in a vegetative state, but it still seems like a harsh thing to do. I have mixed feelings on this topic in general. I can’t even begin to imagine how her parents felt, especially since they were opposed to the feeding tube being removed.…

    • 297 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    The Terri Schiavo Case
    • 1626 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Terri Schiavo Case

    On February 28, 1990, twenty six-year old Terri Schiavo suffered severe brain damage when her heart stopped for five minutes. Terri's condition was the subject of intense debate and media scrutiny over the subject of euthanasia and guardianship. Given the circumstances of Terri's vegetated condition, and no physical proof of her wishes, the last word on whether or not Terri would stay alive was given to her husband Michael Schiavo, by the state of Florida. Michael's argument was that he was carrying out her wishes to not be kept alive in that state. Terri's family challenged Michael's claims saying she is responsive and in no discomfort, that her condition does not meet the medical definition of "vegetative," and that she would not wish to die. Although she never wrote a living will expressing a wish to refuse nutrition or medical treatment if disabled, her condition and future life span should have been her family's decision rather then her husbands. Despite of Michael's intentions, the method of starvation as a means of relieving her of her pains and suffering can still be seen as down right unethical as it is immoral. Terri suffered a legal and public murder. Though Mr. Michael Schiavo's intention and objective were presented as selfless, the government had failed to look into other mitigating reasons for his choice.…

    • 1626 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Health Care Ethics
    • 254 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Health Care Ethics

    The Bartling case was about whether William Bartling had the right, over the objection of his physicians and the hospital, to have life-support equipment disconnected despite the fact that withdrawal of such devices will surely hasten his death. When he entered Glendale Adventist Hospital in California in 1984, he was known to be suffering from emphysema and diffuse arteriosclerosis, coronary arteriosclerosis, abdominal aneurysm, and inoperable lung cancer. At the end, He had to use mechanical respiratory and chest tube to assist his breathing in the ICU. Although each of these conditions could individually be lethal, he was not diagnosed as terminally ill. At first, Mr. Bartling asked his physicians to remove the ventilator but they refused. Then Mr. Bartling attempted to remove the ventilator tubes but was unsuccessful. Eventually, to prevent his attempt, he was placed in restraints so that the tubes could remain in place. The case was taken to Los Angeles Superior Court by Mr. Scott. Because he was not considered terminally ill, the court refused either to allow the respirator to be disconnected or to order that Mr. Bartling’s hands be freed. At the second time, the case was taken to the California Court of Appeal. However, the result was that Mr. Bartling had the right to make his own decision, which was obviously different with the first time. So I think the main issue in this case is about patient’s decision-making capacity, specifically, when patient is able to make make the decision of his own medical…

    • 254 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics