Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital

Your patient is alive but in a coma. Without mechanical intervention, the patient will die; with machines, she will live indefinitely but will never regain consciousness. The cost to keep her alive amounts to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. Should she be kept alive? Explain, as if to the patient’s family, your viewpoint.

Is Dr. Anna Pou guilty of murder? Argue yes or no, using direct textual evidence.

If a patient signs a “Do Not Resuscitate” order, medical personnel will honor it. Should the patient also be permitted to ask a doctor to assist in the patient’s suicide? Explain why or why not.