Autonomy is the most important ethics principle that supersedes all others. However, it is applied only in situations in which a patient demonstrates decision-making capacity. In this situation, a patient with advanced disease unlikely to be cured is refusing treatment, which is his right under the principle of autonomy. However, his comments about "returning in 6 months after curing arthritis" are questionable, and warrant determining if he has decision making capacity. It is possible that he does, which is why any choices of forcing further treatment on him are incorrect.
submitted by m-ice(116), 2019-06-02T19:17:13Z
Autonomy is the most important ethics principle that supersedes all others. However, it is applied only in situations in which a patient demonstrates decision-making capacity. In this situation, a patient with advanced disease unlikely to be cured is refusing treatment, which is his right under the principle of autonomy. However, his comments about "returning in 6 months after curing arthritis" are questionable, and warrant determining if he has decision making capacity. It is possible that he does, which is why any choices of forcing further treatment on him are incorrect.