Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Brain Death In Medical Ethics, Katherine R. Guffey

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Researchers are continually discovering new medicinal therapies. Technology is advancing at an unprecedented rate, and modern medicine has turned into an expansive multi-trillion dollar enterprise. New tools such as ventilators and feeding tubes give doctors the ability to extend a person’s life beyond its natural limits. Conditions which used to kill 100% of victims no longer cause as many deaths per year. While these medical technologies bring about the benefit of longer human lives, they have created a new realm of ethical dilemmas. As the old adage goes, “With great power comes great responsibility.” If we have so much power, …