More About Ethics: Killing a Patient with Kindness Analysis

On Killing Patients with Kindness: An Appeal to Caution Analysis

In On Killing Patients with Kindness: An Appeal to Caution, Alan J. Weisbard and Mark Siegler address the issue arising when non-terminally ill, competent patients demand their “right to die” and illustrate the ideal of “death with dignity” which has drastically increased in recent years. Unlike terminally ill patients or patients in Permanent Vegetative State (PVS), non-terminally ill patients are competent to make decisions about themselves and their immediate well-being. However, what should we do when non-terminally ill patients wish their death and plight not to be forced to “endure the unendurable?” Should such patients be allowed to demand the withdrawal of fluids and nutrition to cause their own death? To what degree is self-autonomy ought to be respected? Weisbard and Siegler further distinguish between withdrawing an air ventilator or dialysis and withdrawing fluids and nutritional supporting tubes. They argue that the human obligation of providing food and drink to those who hunger or thirst is transcendental to the medical environment and, thus, argue that no patient should be deprived of food and water which is deemed “ordinary treatment.” In addition, they also argue that removing feeding tubes would morally corrupt society which would decay into a murderous state which they refer to as the “society of death” because the lack of nutrition itself becomes the direct cause of death as compared to coagulated blood when dialysis is rejected. People with disabilities to which Weisbard and Siegler refer as the “unproductive” have been greatly discriminated throughout history. The “death with dignity” movement was formed to advocate for the rights of the disabled and to fix the deficiencies in the health care system. However, the movement advocating for the right  to die opposes the traditional values of society and proves detrimental for patients rather than helpful. Therefore, Weisbard and Siegler condemn such practices and propose a change in the health care system which could alleviate some of the suffering patients go through rather than hurrying to dispatch them.