MEDICAL ETHICS RESOURCES
The Dead Donor Rule in Organ Transplantation
Truog, Robert D., M.D., and Miller, Franklin G., Ph.D., 2008
The authors challenge the honesty and accuracy of the dead donor rule. They strongly suggest that it is used as a euphemism, and that the time has come to face the relationship between the moment of death and life-saving organ donation. Reprinted courtesy of The New England Journal of Medicine.
Spouses' Effectiveness as End-of-Life Health Care Surrogates: Accuracy, Uncertainty, and Errors of Overtreatment or Undertreatment
Moorman, Sara M., MS, and Carr, Deborah, Ph.D., 2008
Spouses acting as surrogates also have a surprisingly inaccurate grasp of what their spouses wishes really are. The authors explore ways in which clinicians can increase that correlation. Reprinted courtesy of The Gerontologist.
Stability and Change in Patient Preferences
Pruchno et. al., 2008
Some treatment choices using advance directives are more stable over time than others. The authors explore ways in which that correlation can be enhanced. Reprinted courtesy of The Journal of Gerontology.
5 Wishes
Aging with Dignity, 2007
This is an annotated copy of the popular "5 Wishes" form enabling you to state your preferences in this way: The Person I Want to Make Care Decisions for Me When I Can't; The Kind of Medical Treatment I Want or Don't Want; How Comfortable I Want to Be; How I Want People to Treat Me; and What I Want My Loved Ones to Know.
The Accuracy of Surrogate Decision Makers
Shalowitz et. al., 2006
Surrogates have a surprisingly inaccurate grasp of what their patients wishes really are. The authors explore ways in which clinicians can increase that correlation. Reprinted courtesy of the American Medical Association.
Terri Schiavo—A Tragedy Compounded
Quill, Timothy, M.D., 2005
Distortion by interest groups, media hyperbole, and manipulative use of videotape have characterized this case and demonstrate what can happen when a patient be-comes more a precedent-setting symbol than a unique human being. Reprinted courtesy of The New England Journal of Medicine.