Subject(s)
Brain Death , Tissue and Organ Procurement , Death , Humans , Organ Transplantation , Tissue DonorsABSTRACT
In this article I provide an overview of the moral and medical questions surrounding the use of cognitive enhancers. This discussion will be framed in light of 4 key considerations: (1) is there a difference between therapy and enhancement? (2) How safe are these interventions? (3) Is the use of nootropics cheating? (4) Would enhancers create a further divide of social inequality where only the very wealthy have access to them?
Subject(s)
Cognition Disorders/drug therapy , Cognition Disorders/psychology , Nootropic Agents/therapeutic use , Humans , Nootropic Agents/pharmacology , Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation/methods , Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation/psychologyABSTRACT
The purpose of this article is to provide an overview of preimplantation genetic diagnosis and identify the relevant moral questions it raises. In the course of this discussion, the scope of parental rights and the inherent difficulty in defining disease/disability will be considered.
Subject(s)
Preimplantation Diagnosis/ethics , Humans , MoralsSubject(s)
Attitude to Death , Brain Death , Life Support Care/methods , Unconsciousness/diagnosis , Bioethical Issues , Brain/physiology , Brain Death/diagnosis , Brain Death/legislation & jurisprudence , Brain Death/physiopathology , Humans , Models, Cardiovascular , Models, Neurological , Terminology as Topic , Unconsciousness/etiologyABSTRACT
Prospective medical decision-making through the use of advanced directives is encouraged and frequently helpful in guiding treatment for the critically ill. It is important to recognize the attendant shortcomings when using such tools in clinical practice.
Subject(s)
Advance Directives , Critical Care/ethics , Intensive Care Units/ethics , Critical Care/legislation & jurisprudence , Humans , Intensive Care Units/legislation & jurisprudence , Quality of Life , Terminal Care/ethics , Terminal Care/legislation & jurisprudence , United StatesABSTRACT
This review explores the legitimacy of the whole brain death (WBD) criterion. I argue that it does not fulfill the traditional biologic definition of death and is, therefore, an unsound clinical and philosophical criterion for death. I dispute whether the clinical tests used to diagnose WBD are sufficient to prove all critical brain functions have ceased, as well as examine the sets of brain functions that persist in many WBD patients. I conclude that the definition of death must be modified from a biologic to an ontologic model if we intend to maintain the WBD criterion.
Subject(s)
Brain Death/diagnosis , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Brain Death/physiopathology , Female , Humans , Hypothalamus/physiopathology , Life Support Care , PregnancyABSTRACT
Critical care medicine has expanded the envelope of debilitating disease through the application of an aggressive and invasive care plan, part of which is designed to identify and reverse organ dysfunction before it proceeds to organ failure. For a select patient population, this care plan has been remarkably successful. But because patient selection is very broad, critical care sometimes yields amalgams of life in death: the state of being unable to participate in human life, unable to die, at least in the traditional sense. This work examines the emerging paradox of somatic versus brain death and why it matters to medical science.
Subject(s)
Bioethical Issues , Death , Brain Death/diagnosis , Critical Care , HumansABSTRACT
The decision to withdraw or withhold life supporting treatment in moribund patients is difficult under any circumstances. When the patient becomes incompetent to clarify their wishes regarding continued maintenance in long-term facilities, surrogates sometimes cannot agree, further clouding the issue. We examine a case where the State's interests come into play, forcing a controversial resolution.