Question: Should this man with alcoholism be considered for liver transplantation?
Story: Everett is a 62-year-old business executive with a 40-year history of constant moderate alcohol use. He has no history of violence, blackouts, or legal or work problems because of his drinking. It is reported that his wife has also been a problem drinker all during this time, and his two adult daughters are moderate to heavy drinkers. Rather suddenly nine months ago, he suffered liver decompensation. He was stabilized (reluctantly), stopped drinking, and was referred to our liver transplant program.
Tag Archives: compassion
Revisiting Physician-Assisted Suicide: Reaffirming the Christian Hippocratic Legacy
Support for physician-assisted suicide is growing as a result of ever-expanding cultural pressure. Healthcare professionals should oppose this trend and recognize that physician-assisted suicide is a misguided answer to human suffering. For 25 centuries, the Hippocratic Oath has served as the ultimate credo of the medical professional, and serves as a more trustworthy guide for professional ethics than contemporary culture. In this essay, I reflect on the Hippocratic Oath from a Christian perspective and reaffirm that physician-assisted suicide, despite growing in cultural acceptance, remains a misled answer to human suffering and as such is dangerous for the profession of medicine. Physician-assisted suicide corrupts the medical profession, relies on a distorted view of autonomy, and subverts true compassion. The way forward for the medical professional, in contrast, is an ethic of a “good death” comprised of healing, palliative care, and true compassion.