Who Decides When I Am Ill

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On November 1, 2014, 29 year old Brittany Maynard took a lethal dose of medicine which had been prescribed by her physician in Portland OR. She took this drastic step because she feared the suffering which her brain tumor would cause. Was this the right thing to do? It is generally believed that people should be able to decide for themselves when and which medical treatent they will take. However, there are many instances in which other people make treatment decisions. This happens, for instance, when laws put restrictions on certain treatments, or when people are mentally incapacitated by accident or disease. But it also happens in cases of compulsory vaccinations and when people are quarantined against their will in order to prevent the spread of contagious diseases such as SARS and Ebola. Moreover, due to disparities in healthcare, people in the US do not have equal access to treatment. In this course, we will study these issues, illustrate their relevance by exploring real-life cases, and learn to analyze them.