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Two Conflicts In Context: Lessons From The Schiavo And Bland Cases And The Role Of Best Interests Analysis In The United Kingdom, Barbara A. Noah
Two Conflicts In Context: Lessons From The Schiavo And Bland Cases And The Role Of Best Interests Analysis In The United Kingdom, Barbara A. Noah
Faculty Scholarship
This Essay considers the different approaches to end of life decision making for incapacitated patients in the United States and in the United Kingdom. In the United States, individual patient autonomy is the primary guidepost for making end of life decisions for incapacitated patients. In the United Kingdom, patient preference is openly and deliberately supplemented with a careful consideration of the patient’s best interest. To contrast the two approaches, the Essay focuses on two cases involving patients in permanent vegetative states (PVS) for whom little was known about their respective individual preferences, and it analyzes the differences in conceptualization and …
The Role Of Religion In The Schiavo Controversy, Barbara A. Noah
The Role Of Religion In The Schiavo Controversy, Barbara A. Noah
Faculty Scholarship
The brief life of Theresa Marie Schiavo and the dispute over her end-of-life care captured public awareness in a way that few such cases have done. The reasons for the nearly unprecedented public attention to her case are two-fold. The decision by various religious groups and governmental entities to intervene in the dispute surrounding her care in order to promote conservative causes (some of them only tenuously related to her particular medical circumstances) prompted unusually intense media coverage. In addition, the ensuing publicity surrounding Theresa's tragic condition--an unexpected cardiac arrest left her in a permanent vegetative state at the age …
Politicizing The End Of Life: Lessons From The Schiavo Controversy, Barbara A. Noah
Politicizing The End Of Life: Lessons From The Schiavo Controversy, Barbara A. Noah
Faculty Scholarship
The case of Theresa Marie Schiavo raises challenging legal and ethical issues, although the events of the case are not entirely novel. It is a well-settled principle under Florida law that individuals have a right to refuse life-sustaining medical treatment. After years of litigation, numerous courts have confirmed that removal of life support is legally appropriate under the facts of this case. Nevertheless, six days after Theresa's feeding tube was removed, the Florida legislature
opted to intervene in the final judicial decision by granting the Governor the authority to overrule the court's decision and to order the tube reinserted. These …