Instructions Jeremy is a 17-year-old male who was admitted to the hospital for a

Instructions
Jeremy is a 17-year-old male who was admitted to the hospital for a suicide attempt. From the age of 13, Jeremy experimented with drugs and displayed antisocial behaviors. On the day of admission, Jeremy shot himself in the head with a .22 caliber pistol. He was unconscious and was resuscitated at the scene by EMS. Jeremy remained comatose and resides in the Loving Care long-term care facility where he has been on chronic ventilator management for the last 4 years. His course has been complicated by sacral decubiti, flexion contractures, and frequent pneumonias. His parents visit daily but after 4 years of soul searching, they decided that Jeremy would “never be [their]son again.” Jeremy’s dad George approached the administration of Loving Care about the withdrawal of life support. His wife Mae is in agreement. Loving Care, however, would not consider the family’s request. In a family meeting, one staff member accused Mae of ‘‘wanting to kill her son to get on with her life,’’ and another expressed concern that George would surreptitiously turn off the ventilator. George approached a local hospice organization, Helpful Hands Hospice to see if they would accept Jeremy in transfer and remove the ventilator. Loving Care long-term care facility opposed the transfer to Helpful Hands.
Questions to be answered.
1. Legally, did Loving Care act appropriately?
2. What do you think the principles of nonmaleficence and beneficence have to do with Loving Care’s responsibilities in this situation?
3. In our readings, we learned that autonomous consent is implied through a person’s actions. Did Jeremy give autonomous consent to have the ventilators turned off?
4. Does this case demonstrate a failure of patient justice? Why or why not?
5. Also, consider how you would respond if Jeremy were 19 years old instead of 17.