Legal approch to bioethics Justice in end-of-life cases Essay

Legal approch to bioethics Justice in end-of-life cases - Essay ExampleRetributive or vindicatory justice can be understood as a retroactive process that justifies punishment for historic injustice or violation(s) of the law (Maiese, 2003). Substantive justice is concerned with enforcing the rights and obligations. Distributive justice is concerned with the reliable allocation of rights, duties, benefits and burden among community members(Bernard M Dickens, 1994 Maiese, 2003). Accordingly, this paper demonstrates the application of the justice principle in end-of-life legislations and juristic cases. Further, this paper focuses on four cases brain cobblers last concept, the Rasouli case, the Latimer case, and the Carter case.Historically, death has been defined as the cessation of external respiration and inception circulation(Dickens, 1985). Yet, the development of mechanical technology to maintain vital function, such as ventilators and machines to assist blood circulation, h as posed a new ethical question about the patients with irreversible or otherwise sullen neurological damage. The question develops to whether or not these individuals are in fact dead or not Further, one must question whether or not it is ethical to withdraw life support from these patients. As such , the brain death concept was introduced by a Harvard ad hoc committee in 1968( narrative of the Ad Hoc Committee of the Harvard Medical School, 1968). Brain death was recognised as criterion for death in Canadian provincial legislation (B. Dickens, 1985). For example, Ontarios wood lily Gift of Life Network Act (Trillium Gift of Life Network Act (R.S.O. 1990, CHAPTER H.20), 1990)in s.7 (1) states that death should be determined by at to the lowest degree two physicians in accordance with accepted medical practice. Dickens analyzes existing legal approaches in death determination and indicates that the current process embraces what is known as the brain death concept(Dickens, 1985).Th is approach permits the