med ethics final

The Unethical Treatment of the Mentally ill

Treating people with mental illness unfairly, cruelly, or without dignity. Examples include abuse, neglect, forced treatment without reason, discrimination, or denying proper care and respect.

National Black Catholic Congress

A Catholic organization that supports and represents Black Catholics in the United States and works for justice, leadership, and faith development.

Father Thorne

A Catholic priest often discussed in religion or ethics classes for his teachings on moral issues, dignity of life, and Catholic social teaching.

Church's constant teaching against abortion

The Catholic Church teaches that human life is sacred from conception, so abortion is morally wrong because it intentionally ends innocent human life.

Unborn Persons

Babies developing in the womb before birth. The Church teaches they are human persons with dignity and rights.

Prematurity

A baby being born too early.

Viability

The stage when a baby can survive outside the womb with medical help.

Black Catholics

Catholics of African or African-American heritage who are part of the Catholic Church and its traditions.

Principles of Double Effect

A moral principle saying an action with both a good effect and a bad effect may be allowed if the bad effect is not intended.
Example: Giving strong pain medicine that relieves suffering but may shorten life slightly.

Cost of Treatment

The amount of money needed for medical care, including hospital bills, medicine, tests, and procedures.

Passive Euthanasia

Allowing a person to die naturally by refusing or stopping extraordinary medical treatment that only prolongs life.

Active Euthanasia

Directly causing someone’s death to end suffering, such as giving a lethal injection. The Catholic Church teaches this is morally wrong.

Hospice

Care for terminally ill patients focused on comfort, peace, and quality of life rather than curing disease.

Palliative Care

Medical care that helps relieve pain and suffering from serious illness while improving quality of life.

Withholding treatment at end of life

Choosing not to start a medical treatment that is considered burdensome or unlikely to help.

Withdrawing treatment at end of life

Stopping a treatment already being used when it no longer benefits the patient or is too burdensome.

Out of Pocket

Money a patient must personally pay for healthcare expenses.

Out-Of-Network

Doctors or hospitals not covered by a person’s insurance plan, often costing more.

Co-pay

A fixed amount a patient pays for a doctor visit or medicine while insurance pays the rest.

Self pay

When a patient pays medical bills directly without insurance.

Psychologist

A trained mental health professional who studies behavior and emotions and provides therapy, but usually cannot prescribe medicine.

Psychiatrist

A medical doctor who treats mental illness and can prescribe medication.

What we can learn from the Christopher Reeve story?

After paralysis from a riding accident, he showed courage, hope, perseverance, and the value of human dignity despite severe disability.

What we can learn from the Steven Saling story

His story teaches about the struggles of serious illness, dependence on others, dignity in suffering, and ethical questions about end-of-life care.

What does ALS do to the body?

ALS causes muscles to weaken and waste away, leading to difficulty walking, speaking, eating, and breathing.

What does ALS do to the mind?

Usually, ALS does not greatly affect intelligence or awareness. Many patients remain mentally aware while losing physical abilities.

Explain: “In all areas of medical ethics, the dignity of the human person and respect for life are the principles underlying evaluation of proper care and treatment.” 

This means every medical decision should respect the value of every human life, no matter age, illness, disability, or condition.

Terri Schiavo: Summarize the case. What happened to her? Was she brain dead? What were the issues? Discuss the ethics of the case in light of Church teaching. Why this case is important

Terri Schiavo collapsed in 1990 and suffered severe brain damage. She was not considered brain dead, but she was in a persistent vegetative state. Her husband wanted her feeding tube removed, while her parents wanted her kept alive. The case caused national debate over euthanasia, patient rights, and end-of-life care.
According to Catholic teaching, food and water are usually considered ordinary care, not extraordinary treatment, so removing them can be morally wrong if done to cause death.
This case is important because it raised major ethical questions about life support, dignity, and who should make medical decisions.

EXPLAIN: Issues regarding death and dying are more complicated because of technology and medical advancements.  

Modern machines and treatments can keep people alive longer than before, making decisions about life support, quality of life, and end-of-life care more difficult.

Examples of passive euthanasia and why it is unethical.

Example: intentionally refusing ordinary food and water to cause death.
It is unethical because the goal is to end life rather than care for the person naturally.

Example when the same medical intervention be ordinary in one situation and extraordinary in another.

A feeding tube may be ordinary for a recovering patient who can improve, but extraordinary for a dying patient when it causes suffering and no longer helps recovery.

Church’s teaching on Euthanasia

The Catholic Church teaches that euthanasia is morally wrong because human life is sacred and belongs to God from conception until natural death.

What is clinical death?

When breathing and heartbeat stop.

What is brain death?

The complete and irreversible stopping of all brain activity. A brain-dead person is legally and medically dead.

Why it is sometimes difficult to diagnose brain death?

Machines can keep the heart beating and body warm, making the person appear alive even though the brain no longer functions.

Why the diagnosis of brain death needs to be as certain as possible?

Because declaring someone dead is a serious decision affecting treatment, organ donation, and family choices.

Ordinary means of preserving life

Treatments that offer reasonable hope of benefit without excessive burden, pain, or cost. These are morally required.

Extraordinary means of preserving life

Treatments that are excessively painful, costly, risky, or unlikely to help. These are not morally required.

Involuntary Euthanasia

Ending a person’s life without their consent. This is considered morally wrong and illegal.

Ethical Use of Ventilators

Ventilators are ethical to use when they help a patient breathe and offer a reasonable chance of recovery. They may be stopped if they no longer help the patient or only prolong suffering, but the patient should always be treated with dignity and comfort care.

Four Cases Studies on Euthanasia (with examples)

1. Terri Schiavo — A woman in a persistent vegetative state whose feeding tube was removed after a long legal battle about end-of-life care.

2. Jack Kevorkian — A doctor known for helping seriously ill patients end their lives through assisted suicide.

3. Eluana Englaro — An Italian woman in a vegetative state whose family fought to remove her feeding tube.

4. Brittany Maynard — A young woman with terminal brain cancer who chose physician-assisted death under Oregon law.

Addiction: Signs, Symptoms and the Catholic Perspective

cravings, loss of control, mood changes, lying, neglecting responsibilities, withdrawal symptoms.

Catholic Perspective on Addiction

Addiction is a serious human struggle requiring compassion, treatment, prayer, support, and personal responsibility. The Church teaches people suffering from addiction still have full human dignity and deserve care and hope.