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The Total Artificial Heart and the Dilemma of Deactivation
- Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 26, Number 4, December 2016
- pp. 347-367
- 10.1353/ken.2016.0034
- Article
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It is widely believed to be permissible for a physician to discontinue any treatment upon the request of a competent patient. Many also believe it is never permissible for a physician to intentionally kill a patient. I argue that the prospect of deactivating a patient’s artificial heart presents us with a dilemma: either the first belief just mentioned is false or the second one is. Whichever horn of the dilemma we choose has significant implications for contemporary medical ethics.