Adding injustice to injury - compulsory payment for unwanted treatment
Article Abstract:
The 1992 court case Grace Plaza v. Elbaum has raised various issues related to treatment of the dying. Jean Elbaum was a 60-year-old woman who was moved to the Grace Plaza nursing home after a stroke that left her in a persistent vegetative state. Despite her family's wish to discontinue her treatment, which was based on discussions with her before the stroke, she continued to receive treatment. Her family was threatened with legal proceedings when they tried to discontinue care. Her husband finally stopped paying the nursing home bills. The nursing home sued him for payment, and he brought a countersuit against the nursing home to discontinue care. An appeals court ruled in the family's favor, the feeding tube was removed and the patient died. But the court also ruled that the family must pay the nursing home for the unwanted care. This ruling implies that the wishes of the patient and her family were unimportant. It also implies that only by protecting the business interests of nursing homes will patients be assured adequate treatment.
Publication Name: The New England Journal of Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0028-4793
Year: 1992
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Waste and longing -- the legal status of placental-blood banking
Article Abstract:
Doctors and legislators must address the legal implications of placental-blood banking. Placental blood is also called cord blood. It is the blood left in the umbilical cord after childbirth. This blood can be a source of embryonic blood cells, which could be used in the place of bone marrow transplants. For this reason, many companies are storing the blood for possible future use by the parents. However, this creates many ethical problems. It seems reasonable to treat this as a blood donation rather than an organ donation. The blood could be used by non-related persons just as regular blood is used.
Publication Name: The New England Journal of Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0028-4793
Year: 1999
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Testing poor pregnant women for cocaine -- physicians as police investigators
Article Abstract:
The US Supreme Court has rejected the Medical University of South Carolina's policy of testing pregnant women for cocaine use and reporting positive test results to the police. This policy violates the women's Fourth Amendment rights and makes doctors agents of the police.
Publication Name: The New England Journal of Medicine
Subject: Health
ISSN: 0028-4793
Year: 2001
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