Senoufou."The thing is, these cases are all very complex"
Absolutely. There are no simple solutions that will please all. But I would argue that procedures dependant upon power supplies, computers and electronic monitoring allow for ever more complex procedures too be performed. This is a world that had come into being by the early 70,s
(I can be sure of this because the service facility for the computers I was using in Capetown took care of identical computers in the Groote Schuur Hospital of heart transplant fame during this time) Therefore the required revision of medical ethics to take account of these advances and their impact upon the patient have had over 40 years to evolve.By now the thoroughly distasteful situation of parent versus doctor slugging it out in the courts should have been made an anachronism. Their simply is no excuse for medical ethics not being ahead of procedures. The what-if scenarios should have been generated with all responses to the nth degree by now. If the wellbeing of the patient is paramount the reason to perform or not perform procedures should be reduced to yes-no answers to a series of questions generated to cover all eventualities. IF an ethics committee cannot perform this task they should be fired for gross incompetence.
I argue this from the standpoint that the wellbeing of the patient does not automatically mean continuation of life. Quality of life also is an integral part of wellbeing.