Mr. Barber is a 58 -year old man who has a cardiac arrest after surgery. He suffers permanent brain damage from anoxic encephalopathy. He is in a permanent vegetative state and ventilator dependent. His wife and eight children are present in the hospital and request in writing for the ventilator to be stopped. After its removal he continues to breath. They are asking for the intravenous lines to be removed and all blood testing to be stopped. They agree that this was his wish for himself. He did not leave a written advance directive such as a living will but he clearly told his family, "I don't want to be a vegetable." He never designated a health-care proxy.
What should you do?
a. Refer the case to the ethics committee.
b. Obtain a court order.
c. Refuse; you cannot ethically do this.
d. Transfer the care of the patient to another physician.
e. Remove the IV lines and stop blood draws as they wish.
f. You can withhold additional new treatments and tests, but you cannot stop those already started.