Ethical issues have been in play for a long time due to increased civilization and the need to protect the respect, dignity and sanctity of human life. It is a very important feature especially in the file of science where people are in pursuit of new knowledge and carry out a lot of experimentation plus the fact that there are some situations that may be very difficult to handle because the affect the wellbeing of human beings directly for instance, doctors and other practitioners in the medical field could have a tough time when making decisions that are very scientific and have moral obligation like giving or withholding food and fluid.
The decisions to withdraw or withhold food for patients are very difficult to make because of the ethical aspects. Several diseases like the Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastromy (PEG) in the old people require that they be fed through a feeding tube where artificial food and fluids. There are occasions when the result is continuously negative are this evokes a dichotomy of opinion on which is the better means of handling such condition.
There are legal and ethical regulations whose violation could be very terrible. Introduction In the current scientific world, people have been provided with the society with many advantages due to the advancement in technology and other knowledge about heath care and improving the way of life or living standards. On the other hand, such developments have led to emergence of some controversial issues in which human rights are seen to be violated when the practitioners have to make critical ethical decisions.
One of such instances in when one is left to die while some health care technique could have sustained him/her for longer. In the recent times, people find them selves in a tough situation when they have to make decisions about withholding and total withdrawal of treatment from themselves or their loved ones. The moral and ethical issues in such situations bring about the issues of autonomy, the correct use of resources, life worth, the interest of family members and the practitioners obligations among others.
Why is there Controversy? In many of the occasions debate comes about when it has to be decided upon to withhold food some patients who are critically ill suffering from long term illness and they are not aware of their environment and are not able to communicate. Such ailments are very painful and expensive on the family to take care of the sick plus the doctors will loose the morale to continue medication and giving artificial nutrition to a patient whose health continues to deteriorate (Ashwanden 1990).
The patients relies on others for their daily needs, like hygiene, feeding and movement and could possible live longer in such condition as long as they are provided with adequate food and fluids. This brings about the financial worry plus the fact that family members or the doctors could feel sorry for the patient get weaker in such a circumstance when it is obvious that the hope for survival is very small.
In such instances, allowing the patients to die on their own rather than mercy killing is considered merciful. Euthanasia is the scientific name of mercy killing and it has been legalized in some countries so as to save the ailing patients from further pain and suffering and also reduce unnecessary expenses which do not give positive results (Thelan et al 1990).