Question

Scenario 5 ?Let me see if I understand you correctly,? Mrs. Burgone said. ?I need a liver transplant, but I?m not allowed to have such an operation?? ?That?s correct,? Dr. Popp said. ?The National Health policy stipulates that transplant surgery cannot be performed on patients over the age of seventy.? Mrs. Burgone shook her head. ?But I don?t expect National Health to pay for it. I?m able to pay for it myself.? ?That doesn?t matter. It?s a matter of social policy, not medicine. The idea is that we can?t afford, as a society, to do everything for every patient. You might be able to pay for such an operation, but not everybody can. Then society would have to pay for those who can?t afford it, and society can?t afford to do that. Consequently, to be fair, the operation is denied to everyone above the age of seventy.? ?That doesn?t seem fair to me,? Mrs. Burgone said. "How can it be fair to condemn someone to pain and greater risk of death when a way of changing this is available?" If there is a national health care program that provides coverage for everyone should there be limitations placed on the availability of coverage based upon age? Would that be morally correct? How would someone respond to this question using the ethical principles of: A RULE OF ULITRIAN?

What does Biomedical Ethics now mean to you and why? Does studying such matters do any good for anyone?

Answer 1

One should not cross the rules in any situations. Rules are made by many experienced and intelligent professionals around.

In case of mrs. Burgone the liver transplant surgery us not allowed because. In that age that is above 70 years there is chance of table death. The ethics were made based on the more number of clinical trails and experiences.

The seventy year old patients had a most chance of table death which may results in waste of money. Major number of patients can afford to that critical and economical surgeries. So in those people these surgeries are not allowed.

The physicians may request the patients to enjoy their remianing life with their family, friends and society instead of dying in the table.