Flashcards on Introduction to Health Care Ethics
Introduction to Health Care Ethics: A Student's Guide
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Beginning and End-of-Life Ethics: Euthanasia & PAS
293 cards
Card 1
Question: How does the text compare the physician's role in physician-assisted suicide (PAS) to euthanasia?
Answer: Both involve the physician as a moral agent deeply involved in causing death; in euthanasia the physician alone causes death, while in PAS the physici
Card 2
Question: Why are attempts to label physician-assisted suicide as only 'indirect' involvement considered suspect in the text?
Answer: Because providing poisons or instructions for a planned killing has long been recognized by law and common sense as direct implication in the killing;
Card 3
Question: According to the content, what is the crucial similarity between euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide?
Answer: In both cases the physician is actively involved in causing the patient's death; their moral status is strongly similar and they 'stand or fall togeth
Card 4
Question: What distinction does 'active' versus 'passive' euthanasia echo, and what is that distinction about?
Answer: It echoes the distinction between causing death (active) and 'letting die' (passive)—that is, doing something that causes death versus doing nothing t
Card 5
Question: Why does the text argue that calling removal of life support 'passive euthanasia' is questionable?
Answer: Because removing life-sustaining treatments is an activity—an intentional action—and thus not truly 'passive.' The label mischaracterizes the nature o
Card 6
Question: Does the active-passive euthanasia distinction determine moral permissibility according to the text? Why or why not?
Answer: No. Even if used correctly, the distinction doesn't tell us whether something is moral or immoral; being passive doesn't absolve responsibility (e.g.,
Card 7
Question: What recommendation does the author make about the term 'passive euthanasia'?
Answer: The author suggests dropping 'passive euthanasia' and using 'euthanasia' to mean intentional killing (medical killing), distinguishing it from treatme
Card 8
Question: Define voluntary euthanasia based on the requirements given.
Answer: Voluntary euthanasia occurs when a patient voluntarily asks to be killed and all informed consent requirements are met: (1) capacity to understand, re
Card 9
Question: What constitutes nonvoluntary euthanasia according to the text?
Answer: Nonvoluntary euthanasia occurs when any informed-consent requirement is missing—for example if the patient lacks capacity, never made a decision, lack
Card 10
Question: What are the three requirements for informed consent listed in the content?
Answer: (1) Capacity to understand, reason, and communicate; (2) Sufficient information about diagnosis, prognosis, treatment options, etc.; (3) No coercion o