INSTRUCTIONS:
Read the scenario below and applying the principles of bioethics, create an essay that answers the questions at the end of the description. Use at least two peer-reviewed sources to support your positions. A 32-year-old woman was admitted to the Trauma Intensive Care Unit following a motor vehicle accident; she had multiple injuries and fractures, with several complications that continued to develop over the first couple of weeks. The patient rapidly developed Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome is on a ventilator and is continuously sedated. Shortly after the patient's admission, her parents were contacted and remained at her bedside. The parents report that their daughter (the patient) is one week away from having her divorce finalized. The parents also claim that her husband was physically and emotionally abusive to her throughout their five years of marriage. The parents have not notified the husband that hospitalization is ongoing and state that a visit by him would be distressing to the patient if she were aware of it(she is currently sedated). The patient's soon to be ex-husband is now her legal next of kin. Should the husband participate in treatment decisions the patient cannot make? What are the legal and ethical parameters of this case?