Reference no: EM132793294

Nancy Beth Cruzan

In 1983, Nancy Cruzan was in a terrible car accident. She was thrown from the car and landed face down in a ditch filled with water. She was found by the paramedics showing no signs of life. After several minutes they were able to revive her. She was in a coma for several weeks when the physicians determined that she was going to be in a continual vegetative state. In other words, she would remain on life support forever and her condition would not change. Even knowing this, her husband and family waited 7 years for any sign of recovery before deciding to take all life support equipment off Nancy. The hospital contended that Nancy could breathe on her own and her heart was pumping, so they would not remove the feeding tube without a court order. Therefore, the case went to the Missouri Supreme Court. They ruled that before a hospital will remove a patient from life-sustaining equipment, there must be clear and credible evidence of a patient's wishes.

As mentioned before, sometimes the patient's wishes are not known and the hospital must continue treatment. In the case of Nancy Cruzan, she had told her family that she did not want her life prolonged by remaining on life support; however, there were no legal documents which would provide that evidence that the family would need to argue for her. The family was finally able to locate enough confirmation to have the feeding tube removed. She died 11 days later.

From this case study choose and address an end-of-life issue. Medical Intervention, Cessation of Treatment, or one concerning living wills, health care proxy, or Medical POA. Present the case study and identify the ethical issues it raises. How can a client in a similar situation be advised and What ethical theory best supports the decision?