HLT 520 Legal and Ethical Principles in
Health Care
Grand Canyon University
Week 8
HLT 520 Topic 8 Discussion Question 1
A baby is born with anencephaly, or absence of the entire brain above
the brainstem. The brainstem is intact, which means that the baby can
breathe and have a heartbeat and blood pressure, but there is no chance
for any human brain function or cognition, due to this birth defect. The
health care team begins to educate the mother, since children with this
deficit generally die shortly after birth. However, the mother is devoutly
religious, and her minister has told her that if she prays hard enough to
God, that God will work a miracle and her baby's brain will heal itself.
She is insistent that all possible care be given to her baby, including a
months-long stay in the ICU, constant care by a caregiver, regular brain
scans, and other expensive modalities. The hospital, finding her
adamant, asks the court for guardianship of the baby, with the medical
plan to provide only maintenance care with no life-prolonging
techniques until the baby dies. What are the ethical issues are involved?
How do the principles of autonomy, beneficence, non-malfeasance, and
Health Care
Grand Canyon University
Week 8
HLT 520 Topic 8 Discussion Question 1
A baby is born with anencephaly, or absence of the entire brain above
the brainstem. The brainstem is intact, which means that the baby can
breathe and have a heartbeat and blood pressure, but there is no chance
for any human brain function or cognition, due to this birth defect. The
health care team begins to educate the mother, since children with this
deficit generally die shortly after birth. However, the mother is devoutly
religious, and her minister has told her that if she prays hard enough to
God, that God will work a miracle and her baby's brain will heal itself.
She is insistent that all possible care be given to her baby, including a
months-long stay in the ICU, constant care by a caregiver, regular brain
scans, and other expensive modalities. The hospital, finding her
adamant, asks the court for guardianship of the baby, with the medical
plan to provide only maintenance care with no life-prolonging
techniques until the baby dies. What are the ethical issues are involved?
How do the principles of autonomy, beneficence, non-malfeasance, and
