Barry Ashpole Media Watch (#463)

The latest issue of  Media Watch, compiled and annotated by Barry R. Ashpole (Ontario, Canada) can now be downloaded here. More reports can be found at IPCRC.NET

Barry Ashpole Media Watch
Article highlighted to be of particular interest:
The near-failure of advance directives: Why they should not be abandoned altogether, but their role radically reconsidered

Medicine, Health Care & Philosophy | Online – 5 May 2016 – Advance directives (ADs) have been hailed for two decades as the best way to safeguard patients’ autonomy when they are totally or partially incompetent. In many national contexts they are written into law and they are mostly associated with end-of-life decisions. Although advocates and critics of ADs exchange relevant empirical and theoretical arguments, the debate is inconclusive. The authors argue that this is so for good reasons: the ADs’ project is fraught with tensions, and this is the reason why they are both important and deeply problematic. They outline six such tensions, and conclude with some positive suggestions about how to better promote patients’ autonomy in end-of-life decision. The authors argue that ADs should continue to be an option, but they cannot be the panacea that they are expected to be. http://goo.gl/RxuyVt

Published on: 24 May, 2016 | Last modified: 24 May, 2016