Description
Case Study: End of Life Decisions
George is a successful attorney in his mid-fifties. He is
also a legal scholar, holding a teaching post at the local university law
school in Oregon. George is also actively involved in his teenage son’s
basketball league, coaching regularly for their team. Recently, George has
experienced muscle weakness and unresponsive muscle coordination. He was forced
to seek medical attention after he fell and injured his hip. After an
examination at the local hospital following his fall, the attending physician
suspected that George may be showing early symptoms for amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis (ALS), a degenerative disease affecting the nerve cells in the brain
and spinal cord. The week following the initial examination, further testing
revealed a positive diagnosis of ALS.
ALS is progressive and gradually causes motor neuron
deterioration and muscle atrophy to the point of complete muscle control loss.
There is currently no cure for ALS, and the median life expectancy is between 3
and 4 years, though it is not uncommon for some to live 10 or more years. The
progressive muscle atrophy and deterioration of motor neurons leads to the loss
of the ability to speak, move, eat, and breathe. However, sight, touch,
hearing, taste, and smell are not affected. Patients will be wheelchair bound
and eventually need permanent ventilator support to assist with breathing.
George and his family are devastated by the diagnosis.
George knows that treatment options only attempt to slow down the degeneration,
but the symptoms will eventually come. He will eventually be wheelchair bound
and be unable to move, eat, speak, or even breathe on his own.
In contemplating his future life with ALS, George begins to
dread the prospect of losing his mobility and even speech. He imagines his life
in complete dependence upon others for basic everyday functions and perceives
the possibility of eventually degenerating to the point at which he is a
prisoner in his own body. Would he be willing to undergo such torture, such
loss of his own dignity and power? George thus begins inquiring about the
possibility of voluntary euthanasia.
