HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1990-02-28, Page 14PAGE 14. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2«, 1990.
Speaker raises ethical issues at health care seminar
BY USA BOONSTOPPEL
Jocelyn Downie, M.A., admitted
there were no easy answers to the
thought-provoking ethical issues
she raised about health care when
she spoke to board members and
staff of local hospitals about ethics
and human values in the Clinton
Town Hall auditorium last Wed
nesday.
Ms. Downie, a research associ
ate of the Westminster Institute for
ethics and human values at West
minster College in London told the
crowd of over 40 people “Ethical
questions are ever present but
through careful thought and dis
cussion we can do a lot towards
finding answers.’’
Focusing her discussion on pa
tient care and living wills, Ms.
Downie began by saying, “There
are fewer and fewer dollars to work
with and it’s becoming a serious
problem.” The lack of funding
means that doctors and health care
professionals will soon have to
make decisions on situations like
how to spend their money. For
example, hospitals may have to
decide whether to spend money on
a piece of high-tech equipment or
new beds.
“We have to recognize that
solutions aren’t in dollars but that
some things will have to take
priority over others. The things in
priority are the ones that will be
funded,” she said.
Some solutions have been dis
cussed, said Ms. Downie including
using low-tech equipment versus
high-tech equipment; giving more
support to families to take care of
chronic care patients or, a radical
proposal from the United States
which stated that people over
80-years-old shouldn’t have access
to health care.
Al Jewson, chairman of the
Clinton hospital board said that in
the future, he could see where
these decisions would have to be
made by local hospital boards.
“We may be faced with difficult
and ethical decisions like do we
spend a lot of money on high-tech
equipment in the Clinton hospital
or do we decide to send the patients
to London hospitals who have the
equipment and take the risk that
they may not make the trip?
Ms. Downie said that in the past,
the high-technological equipment
has taken precedence over other
medical aspects. “This is because
technology is exciting and has a
large part to do with who holds the
purse-strings at Queen’s Park.”
Another avenue of patient care
that Ms. Downie approached was
the concept of living wills and
euthasia (mercy killing). “I am an
advocate of living wills,” she
bluntly admitted from the onset as
she revealed that she is frequently
asked by seniors if they can write a
living will. “They (seniors) are
scared that a lot of resources will be
wasted on them if they get sick.
They are also concerned that they
will cause a lot of pain to their
families and some also just don’t
want to live in a chronic state,”
she said.
The dispute over living wills is
that they aren’t considered a legal
document in Canada said Mr.
Jewson who openly admitted that
he supports the concept of living
wills largely due to the fact that he
watched his mother die for two
years and knew that she was ready
to die, but couldn’t. “More and
more people want the control of
living wills,” he said.
Reverend David Snihiur, mini
ster of the Londesboro United
Church was in the audience and he
commented that living wills could
be important as a statement of
intention. “They could give an
indication to the doctors and family
about what the patient wants,” he
said.
Ms. Downie agreed that the
family would be in a strong position
to make a decision on euthanasia if
there was a statement of intent but
that the law confuses the issue
because it states that doctors,
nurses or family “cannot withdraw
or refrain treatment of a patient.”
Accepting living wills and decid
ing where money should be spent
in the medical setting are ethical
questions said Ms. Downie who
added “these are very difficult
decisions to make because you ask
yourself should we preserve life
above all else or should the
patient’s wishes come first? I’d like
to see the public become more
involved in defining these limits.”
Ms. Downie advised that there
aren’t any easy answers, because
different people have different
values. She gave an example
concerning active wills and euthan
asia. “If you respect life above the
patients wishes then you will
disregard someone’s request to die
but if you respect autonomy then
you will follow the patient’s wish
es,” she said.
She advised the gathering of
people that when they are faced
with ethical dilemmas, using a
framework her institute devised
may help make a decision. “Maybe
it won’t help you find the right
answer but a better answer,” she
said. The formula begins with a
person deciding on their ethical
theory, being it utilitarianism (do-
Ethical speaker
Jocelyn Downie raised some ethical situations to the gathering
of 40 people at the Clinton Town Hall on February 21 who had
come to listen to Downie, a research associate of the
Westminster Institute for ethics and human values, address
such issues as patient care and living wills.Continued on page 15
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