Attitudes towards end-of-life decisions and the subjective concepts of consciousness: an empirical analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

People have fought for their civil rights, primarily the right to live in dignity. At present, the development of technology in medicine and healthcare led to an apparent paradox: many people are fighting for the right to die. This study was aimed at testing whether different moral principles are associated with different attitudes towards end-of-life decisions for patients with a severe brain damage.

Methodology

We focused on the ethical decisions about withdrawing life-sustaining treatments in patients with severe brain damage. 202 undergraduate students at the University of Padova were given one description drawn from four profiles describing different pathological states: the permanent vegetative state, the minimally conscious state, the locked-in syndrome, an

SUBMITTER: Lotto L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3280319 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature