Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 19

Case Study Example The separation of the Lakeberg twins put forward a number of ethical issues related to saving lives at the slimmest chance of survival. When Reitha was observed to be carrying Siamese twins, doctors recommended an abortion due to the limited chances of survival for the babies. This recommendation poses an ethical issue relative to the doctors’ choice that seemed to highly influence the parents. This situation was worsened by the underlying financial challenges that the couple was going through at the time the doctors made the recommendation. The doctors failed to assess the couple’s family situation, given that their consent to abortion may have been forced by their financial situation. On the abortion issue, a critical dilemma emerges. Both Ken and Reitha had a difficult decision to make. This decision would consequently measure their ethics and respect for human life. Although Reitha never undertook the abortion, her ordeal was not set to end at that point. Seven weeks after she delivered, the couple took its chance to have the Siamese twins separated. With slim chances of one baby surviving, if not both, the move to separate the twins puts medical ethics on the spot. A combination of high medical costs and slimmest survival chances in cases of medical practice might present doctors as money-oriented and patients as medically irrational (Snyder, 2005). However, doctors have a duty to save lives, attend to patient needs, and satisfy patients’ will. The dilemma in this case lies in deciding the point at which such provisions fail to hold. Given that the Siamese twins had a fused liver and a shared heart, it was medically obvious that one of the babies would be sacrificed to save the other. In this case, Amy would be saved subject to the doctors’ medical decision. The parents were provided with an already made decision, an aspect that questions whether it was ethical to make that decision on behalf of the couple. Notably,