The Total Artificial Heart and the Dilemma of Deactivation

Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 26 (4):347-367 (2016)
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Abstract

It is widely believed to be permissible for a physician to discontinue any treatment upon the request of a competent patient. Many also believe it is never permissible for a physician to intentionally kill a patient. I argue that the prospect of deactivating a patient’s artificial heart presents us with a dilemma: either the first belief just mentioned is false or the second one is. Whichever horn of the dilemma we choose has significant implications for contemporary medical ethics.

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Ben Bronner
George Washington University

Citations of this work

Two Ways to Kill a Patient.Ben Bronner - 2018 - Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 43 (1):44-63.
Getting Real About Killing and Allowing to Die: A Critical Discussion of the Literature.Andrew Stumpf & Dominic Rogalski - 2021 - Canadian Journal of Bioethics / Revue canadienne de bioéthique 4 (2).

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