Katic: Would you sign a DNR?

By ,

We’re working on an episode of the Terry Project Podcast around Death. For one segment, I am looking at the legal and ethical implications of signing a DNR, or a Do Not Resuscitate Form.

Most people want most everything to be done to them, but physicians are just the opposite; they want nothing done to them, not even CPR. 90% of doctors don’t want CRP, because they don’t think it will help them out much. Check out this very cool RadioLab on the topic:

Doctors have gone further and, in a few high profile cases, going right up to the Supreme Court of Canada, where doctors have sought to impose DNR on patients. Here’s one journal article that argues that physicians should have more authority in restricting CRP.

What are your thoughts on this? Does it irk you? What would you do? In the podcast, I am speaking to advisors on this topic — a lawyer, a physician, a nurse, a priest, and a bioethicist — to discuss what the legal and ethical implications would be for myself and my family. What should I ask them?

Gordon Katic (@gordonkatic) has been student coordinator for the Terry Project for over two years, and in that time started BARtalk, and the Terry Project on CiTR 101.9FM. A former Ubyssey columnist, and now a student at the UBC Graduate School of Journalism, Gordon is trying to use journalism to tell important stories about global issues.

Related Topics

terryman

Gordon Katic (@gordonkatic) has been student coordinator for the Terry Project for over two years, and in that time started BARtalk, and the Terry Project on CiTR 101.9FM. A former Ubyssey columnist, and now a student at the UBC Graduate School of Journalism, Gordon is trying to use journalism to tell important stories about global issues.