Autonomy and Informed Consent – Case 1
Jack is a 38-year-old man, who lives with his cohabitant Samantha, and with his two children aged 7
and 10. One day, Jack had a very important meeting at his new job, but on the way, he suffered a car
accident.
When Jack arrived at the hospital, the doctors had informed his family about the incident, and that
he has suffered a severe brain damage, and that he must be kept alive on a ventilator.
Jack comes from a rich family, who can take care of his needs, but Jack has told Samantha that if he
ever gets in a position where his life is dependent on a ventilator, he rather wants to end his life,
than having a machine keeping him alive. But his family refuses this treatment because they do not
want to lose their child due to their former loss. On the other hand, Samantha wants to end his
suffering as an agreement between them both.
Group 1: Argument for why Jack’s decision to end his life is right.
Group 2: Argument for why the parents is in the right for wanting to keep their son alive.
Autonomy and Informed Consent – Case 2
A 30-year-old woman was declared mentally incompetent because she was considered dangerous
among other people due to her extremely paranoid thinking, a few days later she was involuntarily
committed to a psychiatric hospital, and her violent behavior was only controlled by injectable
medications which were initially injected against her will. And the decisions to approve were
approved by her husband who had been awarded legal guardianship.
While the injectables suppressed her violent agitations, they also made a little impact on her
paranoid symptoms. However, a new drug was produced and if she used it, then it offered her a
strong possibility to return home, but the drug was only in pill form and the patient refused this
treatment because her paranoia included fear that someone would poison her. The suggestion was
made to grind up the pill and mix it with food.
The medical staff checked with the husband and obtained informed consent from the husband. The
personal values and goals of the husband, where he wanted his wife to live outside the institution
and live close with her loved ones.
Group 3: Your task is to defend the husband’s decision making.
Group 4: Defend the right of autonomy for the woman.