Technology in the medical world has rapidly advanced as years go on.
Physicians are now relying on new machines to conduct surgical
operations that can do their job but in a quick and perfect manner
(Importance of technology in healthcare, 2022). Although these new
advancements are put into place to provide the best treatment/care
possible in the interest of the patient, technology also raises ethical as
well as moral concerns for machines like life support. a Life support
technology is an assisted way of keeping the organs within the human
body working artificially until they can proceed to work on their own,
but in many cases, life support is used when the organs are unable to
function on their own and there is no hope for recovery for the
patient. Ethical and moral issues usually arise when the patient is
advised by the doctors to be taken off life support because there is no
hope for recovery.
Pros to being on life support is that it allows the patient to sustain a
longer period and gives the patients family hope for a solution. “While
people who are in support of life support say that it is morally wrong
to let someone die, those against it argue that it is morally wrong to
keep someone alive without their consent, possibly prolonging their
suffering” (Life Support: Information and Ethics, 2022). Another con
to having a patient on life support is financial consequences. It is
extremely expensive to be kept on life support and can cost up to
$10,000 a day, but with good insurance, it can be covered (Life
Support: Information and Ethics, 2022). If the doctor advises the
patient to be taken off life support, it is because there is no recovery
and therefore keeping the patient on it, against medical advice, would
result in draining limited resources and take up space in hospitals and
in intensive care units.
A very particular case about keeping a patient on life support after
doctors declared the patient brain dead comes to mind from Oakland,
California. 17-year-old patient, Jahi McMath had gone in for a
tonsillectomy where her surgery took another turn, and in resulted in
her having irreversible brain damage. Her parents did not agree with
the diagnosis of her being brain dead, and in fact believed she was
very much alive because of their religious beliefs and the movement
of Jahi’s toes and fingers. This created medical controversy because
McMath’s parents brought in the debate of what actually declares a
person brain dead. Amongst all this, her parents also fought to keep
their daughter on life support. They eventually moved their daughter
to a hospital in New Jersey because “according to a New Jersey
statute, death can't be declared "in violation of individual's religious
beliefs (Chow K, 2018). Sadly, five years later, doctors in New Jersey
declared Jahi dead due to bleeding from liver failure.
For five years, Jahi was kept on life support. This case brought in a
new perspective in regard to religion and death. There are numerous
views on what is actually death, such as "a person is dead when all
brain functions cease, but there's also the view that a person is only
dead after their heart stops beating” (Chow K, 2018). Technology
advancements in medicine will continue to transform healthcare as
the years go on, but we must also keep in mind the ethical dilemmas
that may come along.
Importance of technology in Healthcare. Institute of Entrepreneurship
Development. (2022, April 15). Retrieved from
https://ied.eu/blog/importance-of-technology-in-healthcare/
Life Support: Information and Ethics. Life support: Information and
ethics. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.acls.net/information-and-
ethics
Chow, K. (2018, June 29). Jahi McMath, teen at center of medical and
religious debate on Brain Death, has died. NPR. Retrieved from
https://www.npr.org/2018/06/29/624641317/jahi-mcmath-teen-
at-center-of-medical-and-religious-debate-on-brain-death-has-di
