Essay about Clinical Ethics The Case of Terri Shiavo

I have chosen to discuss the case of Terri Shiavo which was a very big ethical case back in 2005. She had been left on a ventilator for 15 years. So let’s start from the beginning. On February 25, 1990 Terri Schiavo had a cardiac arrest that was causes by extreme hypokalemia (low potassium) brought on by an eating disorder (Quill, 2005). As a result of this cardiac arrest Terri developed severe hypoxic – ischemic encephalopathy which is another way of saying lack of oxygen to the brain (Quill, 2005). During this period she exhibited no evidence of brain function and eventually scans of her brain showed severe atrophy of her cerebral hemispheres (Quill, 2005). Her electroencephalograms were fat, indicating no functional activity of the†¦show more content†¦Schiavo accepted the doctors diagnosis of persistent vegetative and decided he wanted to remove her from the ventilator (Quill, 2005). The article says he was recalling prior statements that his wife had made, such as â€Å"I don’t want to be kept alive on a machine† (Quill, 2005). This is the part where things get tricky. Terri’s parents (the Schindler family) disagreed and did not accept the diagnosis, they believed that Ms. Schiavo’s condition would improve if they continued to provide rehabilitative treatment (citation). The fight between Mr. Schiavo and the Schindler family began in 1993 which is three years after Terri’s diagnoses. The fight continued between the parents and husband, Terri’s feeding tube was removed in 2001, put back in, removed again in 2003 and a third time on March 18, 2005 (Quill, 2005). Congress then passed an â€Å"emergency measure† that was signed by the president in an effort to force federal courts to review this case and create a legal mandate for her feeding tube to be reinserted yet again (Quill, 2005). The district court of Florida denied the emergency request and this decision was upheld on appeal, multiple appeals were denied and Ms. Schiavo died March 31, 2005 (Quill, 2005). Therefore, Terri was on a ventilator in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years. Let’s break down this case based on the four principles of our textbook. We will