Thought Experiment

  • Patient is hooked up to ventilator, and is being performed intensive care
  • Patient does not want to be in intensive care anymore, asks doctor to remove the ventilator
  • Doctor removes the ventilator, and patient dies Did the doctor kill the patient?

Responses

  • Doctor directly makes the choice to end his life
  • Not killing, because patient requested to die
  • It is really the underlying disease that is killing the patient, not the ventilator itself