Pros and Cons of Life Support

Life support was once automatically considered a godsend, but has evolved to become an issue surrounded by moral, ethical and even monetary complexities. Many considerations must be taken into account when deciding on the issue, and often the decision to be made is neither clear cut nor right or wrong. Each situation is unique and none come with easy answers. Life support can save a life, but it can also bring about pain, suffering and other devastating side effects.

Time Frame

One of the benefits of life support is its ability to sustain hope. A grieving family will often hope that, regardless of the extent of the person's injuries or ailments, the person will somehow make a full recovery. This may sometimes be the case. But it may also be the case that the person will never wake up. Elaine Esposito, who was admitted to the hospital to get her appendix removed in 1941, slipped into a coma that lasted 37 years. She died without ever coming out of it.

Considerations

A life support con can be the resources it drains. Money plays a huge part in life support. It's an incredibly expensive undertaking. Families like the Espositos may be saddled with huge hospital bills. In addition to the monetary investments, doctors, nurses and other hospital staff are also obligated to provide care for a life support patient even if the prognosis of any type of recovery is grim.

Misconceptions

Keeping someone on life support may be for the good of others outside of the immediate family. Life support may sustain a life long enough to find a recipient for any organs that can be donated. Nearly 100,000 people are waiting for organ donations, according to the Donate Life America website, yet in 2005, only about 28,000 organ transplants were performed.

Warning

Continued suffering, both on the part of the patient on life support and the patient's family, is another drawback of life support. Agony is prolonged; closure never comes. Patients who do not appear to be in any turmoil could, in fact, be suffering greatly. Religious considerations may indicate that artificially sustaining life may also hinder the person's soul from going on to the next journey, as they are tied to Earth by a machine.

Prevention/Solution

Drawing up a living will, which is a document outlining a person's wishes upon death created while a person is still alive, is one way a person can make known their personal wishes regarding life support. Not every situation will fall into a simple category, or even be remotely addressed in a living will, and tough decisions may still need to be faced by the survivors.