Should a Computer Make Life or Death Decisions?


	Should a Computer Make Life or Death Decisions?

twokatmew

3-17-2007 1:14 PM

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tags:

medical, ethics, death, life, decision, end of life

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://www.clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/901c758f-4143-4b97-9fa9-aae9163bddc6/982F94B2-36AD-4962-AB66-82F5BAE36DFF/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=5BE57569-E7F2-99DF-31B7D3F4370D19A7&ref=rss" href="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=5BE57569-E7F2-99DF-31B7D3F4370D19A7&ref=rss" style="font-size: 11px;">www.sciam.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=5BE57569-E7F2-99DF-31B7D3F4370D19A7&ref=rss">
How would you feel if your fate was in the "hands" of a computer? The idea may not be as far-fetched as you think: A new study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) says that computers, using a mathematical formula, could determine the wishes of incapacitated patients as accurately as—if not better than—their family members or close friends.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=5BE57569-E7F2-99DF-31B7D3F4370D19A7&ref=rss">Wendler and his colleagues proposed this scenario: a 70-year-old Native American male, with a PhD and severe Alzheimer's, develops a life-threatening infection.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=5BE57569-E7F2-99DF-31B7D3F4370D19A7&ref=rss">a proposed computer software program, dubbed the "population-based treatment indicator," would make the choice by locating the profiles of similar patients—in terms of age, race, education, illness and other factors—and matching the most popular treatment choice for that group with one of the current patient's options.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa003&articleID=5BE57569-E7F2-99DF-31B7D3F4370D19A7&ref=rss">many patients want their family to have a say in what is perhaps the most important decision of their lives, regardless of accuracy.</blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/982F94B2-36AD-4962-AB66-82F5BAE36DFF/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>