The case of Dr. Lowell and Mrs. Jackson revolves around a conflict between the doctor, who advocates the implementation of a particular treatment and the patient who disagrees with the doctor and wishes to do things her own way. The doctor feels that the suggested course of action is disastrous and threatens to have the patient declared mentally incompetent. The question now is whether or not the doctor is morally justified in taking action against the patient in order to implement the course of treatment she feels would be most effective. Is this an infringement on the autonomy of the patient or is the doctor morally obliged to do everything that he/she can possible do in order to restore the patient's health even if that includes to go so far as to take this decision out of the hands of the patient?
I would like use Rule utilitarianism and Kantian deontology to help determine what course of action could be morally justifiable in this case. Rule utilitarianism says "A person......
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Approximate Word Count: 1910
Approximate Pages: 8 (260 words per double-spaced page) |