Question

Should life support be withdrawn from patients who are in comas and judged to have no chance of revival? After one year? After five years? Why or why not?

Answer 1

This is an ethical question , that should life support be withdrawn from patients who are in comas and judged to have no chance of revival . Ethically , we should provide the life support until the patient dies completely because there are chances that at some point t time due to some miracle or something will the patient revive ,but from the practical point of view it's totally opposite . The patient in coma is brain dead ,the moment we remove the supportive machine the patient is dead . So, it's just utilizing the resources in a patient in which there is no outcome . One of the valid point which decides the decision is patients family's decision regarding prolonging the life with the support of machines . If they want to printing on machines with the hope that there patient all revive then we should not withdraw the life support. On the other hand if family has decided that they don't want to prolong the brain dead patient due to many of the reasons like financial crunches , no one to support etc then life support is withdrawn and they can be asked to be a voluntary organ donor If they consent for it .