Painful Treatment for a Severely mentally Incapacitated Man. Bill is a profoundly disabled man who has lived in a state hospital for many years. He as no contact with family members, and he has become a ward of the state. At the age of 58, Bill developed acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). Chemotherapy has been recommended, but its appropriateness was questioned on the basis that Bill would not understand the uncomfortable and prolonged treatment of a disease with such an uncertain prognosis. His physicians wonder if they should forgo attempts at treatment and instead adopt a palliative care plan.
For an ethical principle would this be a form of beneficence?
