Ethical case deliberation involving the end of life decision

Abstract

End of life decisions involving the patients who are in unbearable, intense suffering are often not easy to make especially when there are moral dilemmas or conflicts. The patient, physician and care givers may have to come together to decide on a reasonable course of action. However, in arriving at a moral course of action a moral conflict may arise between all concerned parties. In resolving such a conflict there is a need to adopt a method. Here, a brief set of questions has been used as a method that can help to structure a case deliberation following a set of carefully separated steps. This paper adopts the Nijmegen method of case deliberation to analyse a case that involves a moral conflict. In addition to the method adopted the paper gives a careful consideration to the cultural underpinnings of the case. The choice of this method does not indicate that it is the best of all existing method but that the whole exercise is an attempt to point out how a moral conflict may arise in a case and how such conflict can be resolved by using a structured method. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bioethics.v3i1.10869 Bangladesh Journal of Bioethics 2012; 3(1):23-29