Conversations in Ethics

摘要

Fred is a 68-year-old man who has been married to Ethyl for approximately 2 years. He has 2 adult children who are estranged due in part to abuse they have received throughout their lives as a result of Fred's alcoholism. Ethyl, who is 62, owns her own home and has roughly dollar40,000 in savings which she has managed to accrue through the years that she has worked as a clerk at a local grocery store. Fred has no independent assets, has not been employed for a number of years, and has been in the hospital for approximately 2 months. He was admitted with a diagnosis of alcoholic encephalopathy. His course of treatment in the hospital has required mechanical ventilation among other things. He has difficulty swallowing as a result of his brain injury. He is currently deemed unable to make decisions by himself, although no legal guardian has been appointed. The psychiatric evaluation indicates that he may improve to the point that he can make decisions for himself in the future if he continues with treatment, but the medical evaluation indicates that nothing further can be done for him in this facility. The recommended course of treatment is discharge to a skilled nursing facility, but Ethyl objects to this as they require her to be responsible for payment of the cost of the care.