opinions wanted!

For those of you who are studying in the medical field or are in the medical field respectively.. (either or), you would know how important a piece of paper can be, especially if that paper is evidence of patient consent and even more so if there is a witness to prove that patient did really give their consent.

so technically, if the patient gives consent to a certain procedure then you're not in the wrong right? unless the medical procedure was done with non-consent. then lawfully, your license would be revoked no matter how skilful or well-known you are. right right? am i right?



but here comes the question.



what if the patient PLUS (or no plus) their relative, gives you consent to conduct a procedure that would question your ethics as a doctor or a nurse?

something like putting an end to their lives? especially for those with terminal / chronic illness.



so would you be right because you're ending their suffering just because they consented to it and you feel that that's what every terminally ill patient should do or would you then be wrong because what you're doing would be against the law where you can be charged with murder?
Poll

would you be right or wrong?

Results
-Yuan- 6 years ago
I don't have much of a say how it is in other countries, but in mine, we have "medically assisted suicide". Therefore a doctor will not do anything questionable you would have to move to a residence where they support above mentioned techniques. But the thing is only you yourself are alowed to take the meds that will put an end to your life, no one is allowed to give it to you, and as far as I know specialist such as a doctor must be with you in the room, else it seen as murder.
[deleted]
isashi 6 years ago
@ssummer Im a nursing student but i learn as much as a med student would when it comes to laws and ethics.. truthfully, i have no idea.. when you listen to a debate for example.. you tend to support the side that is able to win you more.. but even before listening to others and after listening to others.. im still stuck tbh :P
ssummer 6 years ago
@isashi you're a med student? :p hmm, i wonder if the medico-legal systems were well established in the 80s/90s...
what's your opinion on the matter and do you think most people agree that he's doing the right thing? or is it just easy to say when you're not actually faced with the situation lol
isashi 6 years ago
@ssummer I pretty much know about DNR and whatnot.. it's been drilled since I first started this field.. but I was curious as to people's view when I read about a doctor who was doing the above back in the 80's /90's and felt that he was doing the right thing.. so yeahhh
isashi 6 years ago
@MissMinew Thanks for the view!
ssummer 6 years ago
regardless of ethics, as a medical professional you would be wrong to and would not be able to carry out assisted death. Doing so would result in serious ramifications (since euthanasia is still considered illegal in majority of countries). However, there's situations where the medical professional do NOT have to actively prolong life, as consent is given by the individual/family -- but these situations usually involve the withdrawal or cessation of "life-sustaining" treatment, rather than an intervention that will effectively result in their deaths.
*see DNR and removing life support

as to whether it is ethically "right" to end someone's suffering by killing them, i don't think there's a clear cut answer (obviously, or we wouldn't be debating this).
currently for those at the end stages of life, i think the standard medical practice is to improve patient quality of life (aka reducing suffering/pain/symptoms etc) instead of aggressively treating to prolong life at whatever cost [unless the patient requests this]

about the conflict with your morals + performing a specific procedure (granted this procedure is legal); i think there's the option of referring the patient onto another medical professional who doesn't have this issue (since morals/ethics stuff is often a personal thing). this way, patient's best interests are still upheld

apologies for the long comment ^^ and disclaimer: i am in no way an expert on this topic lol
MissMinew 6 years ago
if euthanasia is illegal in the country, you'd be in the wrong. as a medical professional you often swear to help keep people alive so killing them would be murder in such a country. consent doesn't matter in this case. if you do it without consent you'd probably be judged a lot harder but still, what you've done is illegal and as such punishable by law. consent is important, ofc, as always but ... if euthanasia is legal in the country, i guess what you choose to do would be based on your own morals.