Another journal article review session took place on February 15, 2017, at the Meeting Room of BRACU Savar Campus. Mr. Md. Sayeedul Islam Khan, faculty member of Ethics & Culture, presented the article titled “Withdrawing artificial nutrition and hydration from minimally conscious and vegetative patients: family perspective” by Celia Kitzinzer and Jenny Kitzinger.
Advanced medical technology in 21st century has created new moral dilemmas, one of them being taking decisions regarding permanent vegetative state patients. These decisions about withdrawing Artificial Nutrition and Hydration (ANH) from patients in permanent vegetative state or minimally conscious state, which is a state from where there is no hope to recover, are well-discussed issues in medical ethics. In this article, the writers explore salient ethical features from the perspectives of such patients’ family members, including those who believed that their relative would not have wanted to be kept alive, regarding withdrawal treatment.
In the research, researchers collected data from 51 participants who had close relatives in permanent vegetative state or minimally conscious state. From data analysis it has been found that many families are not willing to even consider ANH withdrawal. Philosophical debate about whether or not ANH should be withdrawn from patients will contribute most usefully to real-life situations where such decisions must be taken.
In an open discussion, faculty members who were present in the session shared their own opinion regarding the issue and provided valuable feedback about the article’s analysis concerning the views of the families.