OCR Text |
Show Thursday, December 8, 1988 Chronicle - Page Three FOCU Mhamasla: Masked Dim ON ETHICS a cloud controversy Beneath the questions lie the patient's rights By Edward Ruiz Chronicle assistant news editor What was once an issue of "there's nothing we can do, but let the patient die" has since become an agonizingly complicated issue of "how far should we go in preserving life?" Up until the World War II era, there wasn't much a. doctor could do to treat a person suffering from a terminal illness, said Dr. Hiroshi Kuida, University of Utah associate dean for medical student programs. But since then, he noted, euthanasia (with the help of modern technology) has evolved into a very complex problem with lots of questions and no clear answers. The first problem with euthanasia is the "nitty gritty" of defining it. . Webster calls it an "act of causing death painlessly, so as to end suffering." However, Kuida pointed out that defining euthanasia is no simple task. First, he explained, there's the "overt act" or "commission" where you actively cause one's death, by giving a lethal injection or suffocating someone with a pillow. JThen thereX&eJ'omission" where, in deciding to withhold treatment, nothing is done. Although there is a difference between passive and active euthanasia, Kuida maintains that there is a gray area between the two. "Is pulling the plug the same as injecting someone?" he asked, noting that in shutting off a machine, one is hastening death, but not actively, whereas injecting someone with a lethal dose is actively hastening death. Dr. John W. Athens, a professor of medicine in the . University Hospital hemocotologyoncology division, added that there is a major difference between withholding treatment and withholding effective treatment. Withholding useless treatment is common sense and withholding effective treatment is a form of active euthanasia, he said, and therefore there is no real passive euthanasia. "I can't remember withholding effective treatment," Athens noted, saying that although there are always more drugs you can give a patient, there is a limit to how many would be effective and how many wouldn't do more harm than good. "I trunk euthanasia would have to be active," he said adamantly, adding that under societal rules, it is also murder. . Then again, what do you consider effective? asked Philosophy Professor Margaret P. Battin, who studied euthanasia in Holland, the only country with "effectively legalized" euthanasia. . . In Chronicle photo by Andrew HollowaV Although patients have the right to refuse treatment, euthanasia, besides being illegal, is a difficult ethical problem facing medical professionals, as well as patients and society. , . Battin said she found the Dutch people more, sions. 'v,-Euthanasia then, is what you perceive it to nd informed then Americans about euthanasia, including ethical issues, their rights and possible abuses or other what the courts say it is. ' Last Thursday, a Florida jury acquitted a pathologist '':.T: drawbacks. Besides its definition, Peter Y. Windt, a professor of of of first degree murder, after he helped kill his terminwife in 1986. and cancer-stricke-n philosophy, suggested that even the word "euthanasia" ally-ill the there In United are States Hitler's a lot of advocates for pasThird nas created some controversy because of sive euthanasia, Windt explained, and also "you'll find Reich, which used the word in connection with its polsubstantial but fewer advocates for active euthanasia." of icy genocide. Derek Humphry, founder of the Hemlock Society (a He said some people prefer to use the Latin term bene mortasia, which like its Greek counterpart, means group that supports the legalization of mercy killing) said in a Feb. 14 United Press International article on , "good death." ? euthanasia: Like Kuida, Windt also feels there is a typical distincthe intent appears to have been tion made between active and passive euthanasia, "By and large, if though he said it can also be argued that either way it mercy, the law has been very reasonable. Sometimes there is a fine line between mercy and murder, but is the same thing because "the person is just as dead." and "Murder is not acceptable," Kuida said, "killing mercy almost always wins out in the eyes of a jury. It's human nature." as an act of mercy" makes euthanasia a difficult probsee "euthanasia" on page four lem. "We usually reserve for God those types of deci . - ' ; be-a- - dealing with abortion, some doctors misinform patients Editor's Note: This article examines whether medical doctors are ethical in their treatment of women who seek abortions. It does not address the ethical issues of abortion itself . By Low Bona Hunt Chronicle news editor Kelly (not her real name) was 21 when she found out she might be pregnant An honors student at the University of Utah, Kelly had high expectations for her future, but an unplanned pregnancy was not one of them. Kelly went to her doctor uncertain of what she should do. "When I told my doctor I was on the pill and wasn't married, he was very disapproving," Kelly said. After a brief examination, the doctor told Kelly she was at least 11 weeks pregnant Kelly told her doctor her boyfriend would want her to have an abortion. The doctor said he thought I was too far along, but if I did have an abortion, it would be a mistake." A few days later, Kelly had an ultrasound. The radiologist discovered she had a cyst on her uterus. The radiologist found a gestation sack, but he could not locate a fetus. When Kelly asked her doctor why the radiologist could hot find a fetus, he said the radiologist miscalculated and she was pregnant "I told the doctor if I was 11 weeks preg nant, I was taking birth control pills when I conceived," Kelly said. She said she was afraid the baby would be born deformed, but the doctor said he made a mistake and she was really only seven weeks pregnant. The doctor encouraged Kelly to carry the baby to term, despite the dangers of the cyst "He kept saying, If you have an abortion, you will be miserable for the rest of " your Hfe. You'll never get over it,' she said. Kelly decided to have an abortion. "I never got a straight answer from him. Now I think he contributed to the rapid decision I made to get an abortion. I felt like I didn't have adequate information, so I had an abortion. I was really bitter about it at the time, but now I know it was the best thing," Kelly said. According to many health educators and doctors, Kelly's case is not unusual-i- n fact, it happens all too often. Lori Gregory, a health educator for the for Center Women's clinof the two one Reproductive Health, ics in Utah that performs abortions, said doctors often allow their morals affect the Wastach way they treat their patients. "Some doctors will refuse to see you if you plan to have an abortion. I know of one doctor who asks you right on his patient information sheet if you would have an abortion. If you say yes, he will not treat you," Gregory said. She added many doctors will not tell women where they can get abortions or give them false, information about their pregnancy. Lori Packard, a counselor for the Utah Women's Health Clinic, said because many doctors try to persuade women not to have abortions, women often delay them until they are in their second or third trimester. If a woman has an abortion in the first trimester, it is relatively safe and the state has no say in the matter. However, if a women is in her second trimester, the state can intervene and the abortion must be performed in a hospital. If the woman is in her third trimester, abortions can only be performed to save her life. "It really upsets me because doctors give you limited birth control information because birth control is not an issue to them. . . .and then they won't tell you where you can go to have an abortion," Gregory said. Many doctors, however, insist they are fair when it comes to abortion. Dr. Michael Madsen, a gynecologist at the Salt Lake Clinic, said he tries to "balance both sides" by telling women about alternatives such as adoption and referring them to abortion clinics if they want to have abortions. Madsen, however, said there are "prejudices on both sides." "I've heard from patients who say the abortion clinics gloss over the psychological impacts of abortion." As a result, he said many women are not prepared to face the psychological aftermath of abortion. Dr. William Adams, a gynecologist in Holladay, said he refers women seeking an abortion to clinics, but if they request it, he will perform the abortion himself. However, Adams agrees many doctors are unfair when it comes to abortion. "There are few doctors in Utah who do abortions. Most doctors are not voluntarily going to tell women where they can go to get an abortion." Dr. Regula Burki, a doctor specializing in gynecology, menopause and pelvic surgery, said such behavior is completely unethical. "You hire a doctor as a professional to perform a service, not to pass judgement," she said. Burki said doctors opposed to abortion will go so far as to tell their patients abortions are illegal or that they are too far along to terminate their pregnancies. "A doctor may tell a woman she is four months pregnant when she is really two months pregnant They pass on deliberate misinformation. They imply that good women don't have abortions," Burki said. She added her own obstetrician hinted to one of her patients that if her boyfriend wanted her to have an abortion, he didn't love her. Kelly added when doctors allow their morals to influence their opinions, women are denied reliable health care. "Morality has been thrust on me so many times. They think it's wrong to be single and sexually active." |