In this blog, I will be discussing a real life case study of a want for euthanasia, and how this can create thinking about the meaning of ‘quality of life’.
It is quite interesting this euthanasia debate. There is so much information out there trying to push the many perspectives. After reading, and listening to what the many perspective have to say, I have discovered a new theory. This is not just a debate between whether euthanasia is right or wrong. It is a debate between the law of nature versus the law of the nation (16x9onglobal, 2011).
A book called ‘In the Midst of Life’ by Jennifer Worth, recalls a woman’s experiences as a nursing hand throughout the late 1950’s until 2010. The ideas on death that emerge through the pages, bring to light some interesting facts relating to euthanasia. She tells a story of when she first began practicing as a nurse hand. She shares with the reader an experience she had with an elderly woman, called Mrs Ratski, who had under gone some medical procedures. Mrs Ratski was only meant to be in hospital for a few days, however, due to her old age, she developed further complications and her stay was unexpectedly prolonged. Jennifer explains how the doctors did everything they possibly could in order to get her well again. Little did they know, that she had recently shared with her son that she felt it was her time to die, and made her peace. For weeks, they drugged her and kept her alive. At one stage, she expressed her pain and discomfort by trying to rip the many cords and needles attached to her body out and escape the hospital. As a result, the doctors ordered the nurses to tie Mrs Ratski’s wrists to the bar on her bed so she could not make the same attempt again. As time when on, her health rapidly deteriorated resulting in many operations, including the removal and closure of her rectum. Eventually she was able to leave the hospital and move in with her daughter-in-law. Neither of them where happy with this arrangement and her daughter-in-law refused to care for her needs including change her colostomy, and over time, she put screens up around her bed so the children could not see their ill grandmother. After months of living in isolation, Mrs Ratski fell out of bed, breaking her pelvis. She was taken into theatre for the pelvis to be pinned into place but the injury did not heal. Mrs Ratski eventually developed generalised septicaemia and died alone (Worth, 2010).
It is shocking that this woman had to go through the amount of pain and suffering that she did, even after expressing her readiness to die. This story is an example of the law of the nation. Mrs Ratski felt her time was up. She was ready to die. Her body had lived many happy years and she was ready to rest, in comfort of home, with her son by her side. However, globally the law states that ‘old age’ is not an acceptable cause of death. There must be a medical reason, and heart failure alone is not acceptable (Ministry of Health, 2001). This is why doctors work so hard to preserve life, and why euthanasia is such a big issue. Nature can no longer take its course. People can no longer die of old age. The law now denies everyone of this.
However, this is not such a bad thing either. Imagine if doctors had the right to determine whether a life was worth trying to save. The words ‘quality of life’ come to mind and what this really means cannot really ever be determined. For someone to decide it is time to pull the plug because a person is too unwell to ever live a normal life again, is a choice that no one ever wants to make. Deciding for someone else whether his or her quality of life is worth holding onto is what makes euthanasia so easily debatable.
In New Zealand, the law is clear. Euthanasia is illegal. However, New Zealand doctors cannot save everyone. At some point, they have to accept their care and obligation to ‘fix’ patients will not play out as planned. Some patients are just too unwell, too weak, too old, to be able to fight for life. The responsibility that individuals feel is that doctors have to keep loved ones alive. This means doctors have the hard job of gently sharing the reality of the situation with patients and their families. At some stage, everyone dies. So how do doctors ‘let patients die’ without it being labelled as euthanasia? Is euthanasia happening in New Zealand hospital without the public actually realising it? How do medical professionals overcome this issue when a patient is in pain and begging for death to come?
References
Ministry of Health. (2001). A guide to certifying causes of death: A guide for doctors and coroners on the provision of information on deaths to the New Zealand health information service. Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Health.
Worth, J. (2010). In the midst of life. London, UK: Orion Publishing Group.
16x9onglobal. (2012, March 21). Taking Mercy: Euthanasia debate [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxYmgrnGx_M.
Wow Jess, you have really done your research on this controversial topic! Reading about this social issue was incredible interesting and at times, from the information you had provided, I was challenging my own personal beliefs. I found it very intriguing when you described how doctors can’t say that someone has died from natural causes. What I also found interesting was that doctors can prescribe high doses of morphine to relieve a patient’s pain when the doctors know that the levels they are prescribing will eventually be ending their patient’s life. In effect this is actually euthanasia. If a patient is in a coma, how do doctors really know how much pain they are in? Even if they had broken all of the bones in their body, who is to say that they are in any pain at all? I have a personal experience that is the underlying factor of this question. During winter a few years ago I was burnt from my hot water bottle on the arm. When I woke up it was extremely painful and I went to the Doctors to have it checked because of the pain. After quite a few weeks it eventually healed but my personal experience has left me to wonder, do our pain receptors shut down or not work as effectively, when we are asleep? Surely I should have woken to the pain of being burnt if we feel pain the same whether we are awake or asleep. If this is the case then how can medical professionals tell a patient’s family with confidence how much morphine will ease their sick loved ones pain? If the family requests that they would like their loved one to not receive any pain relief like morphine is this respected by the medical professionals? I understand that there will be many unanswered questions for anyone who delves into researching this topic as it is quite a taboo subject with many grey areas for many countries. I look forward to reading where this takes you.
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