Ethics Problem: Did Medical Personnel Kill Patients in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina?

10/21/2014

            If we are able to make choices that concern our body why shouldn't we be able to make the decision for us to pass away when we want? Yes. I believe in mercy deaths, where we should be able to have the option to end our lives ourselves or ask for help, or not. It is unethical terminating someone else’s life based off of an assumption, not involving the patient’s permission or request is basically the definition of mercy killing.

            In all honesty mercy deaths, including physician-assisted suicide, in my opinion, should be left up to the choice of the individual. Although I do strongly believe restrictions should be in place first. For example you should be an adult (i.e. you have had a ‘good, long life’ not being too young and emotional to make that decision) and in very poor health (i.e. life support, paralyzed, etc) or can prove that you have thought about it thoroughly and rationally (i.e. by discussing it with a therapist). After those are met you should then be given the green light to end your own or receive help in ending your own life.

On the subject of the medical personnel in the aftermath of hurricane katrina at New Orleans Memorial Medical Center, however, it seems that these were cases of mercy killings rather than mercy deaths. Due to the fact that, beforehand, no one claimed that any patient (determined to have a “mysterious death”) requested or mentioned that they no longer want to live gives way to these circumstances being mercy death situations.

Additionally, concerning forced abandonment, I still believe you should have the power to decide whether to end your own life or not. However this did not seem to be the case at this hospital. While it may have seemed like all hope was lost or that emergency officials gave up on rescuing them there was no official statement saying that they had given up. Consequently when the assumption that they had given up had proven to be false when they were rescued, the nurses now, unfortunately, would have to suffer the consequences of decisions made in a difficult situation.

More importantly there should also be a few cases to be considered an exception. If there was a patient with no way of communicating, starving, thirsty and help did not seem like it would be arriving soon then the medical professionals should have some leeway, the ability to make a call based off of the situation (like surgeons do). Even though the only obligations doctors and nurses have to patients is to do their very best to help their patients become healthy again and I believe the only person with the authority to kill you should be you and you alone, I do think there will always be some situations that should be considered an exception to my rules.

All-in-all, with the given information, it seems that, unless the patients were unable to communicate, the doctors and nurses made bad calls. They did not make any claims that the patients were unable to communicate or requested to be put to death thus making it a mercy killing, not mercy death.