Throughout the Schiavo debate, I’ve heard the complaint that pulling the feeding tube was “starving Terri to death” and that its unacceptable to do that do a disabled person.
Folowing that logical train, if she were on a respirator, would you consider unplugging the resiprator to be “suffocating Terri”?
In general, is unplugging a respirator the equivalent to suffocating someone?
IANAD, but this is just how I logistically see it: I would say that technically, yes, they are “suffocating” to death. They are deprived of oxygen until they die because they can’t breathe on their own. A feeding tube being removed does technically starve one to death because they cannot get nourishment on their own. However, a person who’s feeding tube is removed should die of dehydration well before they would die of starvation.
Saying someone is being “starved to death” causes a much more emotional response than saying that their life support (in this case, feeding tube) was removed. Starving implies suffering, though at least in the Shiavo case this was not possible. Not having the parts of her brain that would cause her to feel pain, she would not have been able to feel starvation or thirst. Saying “she is starving to death” makes people think, “oh that poor woman, why are they doing that to her!” even if they don’t know the facts of the case. Telling people her life support was being removed doesnt’ have an impact, because that happens all the time. Also, most people who have feeding tubes removed or simply stop eating due to terminal diseases do not suffer as they “starve”. I’ll need a doctor to clarify this, but IIRC chemicals in your body halt hunger pangs soon after a person has stopped eating, and they actually feel very little discomfort due to lack of food and water.
Also, Terri Shiavo was not disabled - she was in a Persistant Vegetative State. She had little, if no, cerebral cortex left and while she could breathe on her own, she was not aware of her surrounds, who her parents were, or who she was. Disabled people, wether physically or mentally, have awareness, however limited it may be. That is a very signifacant difference, and I really wish people would stop saying she was disabled (not sure if that’s what the OP is doing, or if s/he is just paraphrasing what others have said).
Terri Shiavo was alive, much like a potted plant is alive, no more. Any “responses”, like those shown in the god-awful tape were automatic and not really associated with brain funtion. If too many parts of the body shut down or are killed off, the body just can’t function any longer and it should cease to be. Twelve+/- state appointed doctors agreed that she would never recover, ever. The Schindlers paid doctors until they found one that would say what they wanted to hear and politicians looking for support jumped on the wagon. The whole thing is a shame.
Forget about Schiavo for the minute – that’s not really what I’m trying to understand.
The question is: if removing a feeding tube is equivalent to starving someone to death, is unplugging the respirators equivalent to suffocating them?
If so, are there people out there agitating against unplugging respirators the same way that people are complaining about feeding tube removal?
Okay, understand this is an assumption I am not a doctor, but I believe that if the respirator is removed you would suffocate but you would never know.
Last June, I returned to the hospital in time to watch mrs.lanelee die. She was on a respirator and I had it removed (we had discussed this as once before, she pulled the plug on me). Me and the nurse were standing there for a while and something happened and the nurse said, “Mr.Lee, it is gonna happen anytime now.” and the heart monitor went flat a few minutes later. The nurse said, quite calmly, “Mr.Lee it’s over.” She never moved, that I saw, but the nurse saw something and my wife ceased to be. It was really uneventful, disappointing even. I imagine that this is how T.S. died, eventually, her heart probably just stopped and she stopped breathing, she probably never flinched, only someone experienced in watching someone die (ICU/hospice workers) would ever notice.
I thank God for the nurse that was there, John. He pointed out the events of the process without drama or euphemisim. He seemed to know magically what was happening, when it happened. He told me when it was about to happen and when it was over. It all looked the same to me. I left the hospital and went home. If I had John’s job, I would likely hang myself sooner or later. I’ve witnessed violent death and it’s much easier to deal with.
I imagine that in this day and age when experts, lawyers and politicians, declare death, that you would have to spell out specifically the means life support that are acceptable. What I mean is specify respirator or no, feeding tube or no, CPR or no, etc. Also, people do not generally carry advance directives on their person, if you are in an accident and it is necessary, you will be put on life support and next of kin will determine if it will be continued (been there).
Sorry to hear of your loss.
Suffocating someone would be an “active” method of denying needed air. If TS or any other patient was making some kind of effort to feed herself and you forcefully restrained her from doing so, then you would be “starving them to death” as implied by the Schindlers and their ilk. IF TS was 20 years old and her problem had occurred a couple months ago, this would have been a whole different story.
As a matter of simple medical mechanics, yes they are suffocating/asphyxiating(sp?), but because of the failing systems of their own body, not the actions of others.
There are people out there who do fight over removal of respiratory life support, often out of a combination of medical ignorance and denial. People taking breathing and swallowing for granted because its such a simple thing we all do. Its a little easier for people to understand that walking requires musculature and balance and coordination and that these things can be damaged and not work. Its much harder for the medically uneducated to visualize how these types of musculature work, why it might stop, and why someone with massive neurological damage or impairment won’t just suddenly remember how to do it again.