ext_59806 ([identity profile] sageofgodalming.livejournal.com) wrote in [personal profile] pegkerr 2005-09-14 05:01 pm (UTC)

I don't believe this has huge implications even if true.

In the Schiavo case, the family believed there was a chance she would recover, and the medics and courts disagreed, all the way to the top. So the entire apparatus of the state was ranged against a chance for life of a person, on their narrative. The case was a precedent for other, similar cases. There were years taken over this decision and it was just about as deliberate as a decision could be in the USA, short of passing a constitutional amendment.

In this case, doctors had to take decisions in very short time with little and diminishing information, and were plainly unsure about the rightness of what they were doing. They had no choice. This case sets no precedent and at the most provides illustrative examples for those who have to provide guidance for medical staff to use in an emergency.

Conservatives may disagree with what the doctors did; they may even try to legislate what doctors should do in emergencies in future. But I think the likelihood is that they will recognise the uniqueness of the situation and let it go. There is nothing to fight over, no routine medical decisions to be influenced here.

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