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Essay / The Ashley treatment: practical, but ethical? - 676
The Ashley treatment: practical, but ethical?- The Hitler era – medical experiments- The Kennedy sister – lobotomy- Serious potential consequences that can result from irresponsible or criminal medical experiments. While we must be vigilant to protect innocent victims of such experimentation, we cannot let this stifle our duty to continue to make advances in health care and improve the lives of patients. Moral obligations should generally not be so demanding that one must make enormous sacrifices to fulfill them (Liao, Savulescu, & Sheehan, 2007).- Beauchamp and Childress – ethical principles of autonomy- One must ask whether treatment is practical, does that make it ethical? Ashley's treatment included high-dose estrogen therapy, a hysterectomy and removal of breast buds. Ashley had a normal delivery, but her mental and motor skills did not develop (“The Ashley Treatment,” 2007). Ashley was diagnosed with encephalopathy of unknown etiology. . This meant that she would still have the mental capacity of an infant, even if she had no physical deformities. Although she is awake and alert, Ashley cannot walk, talk, sit up or even support her own head. Ashley is mainly cared for by her. parents and grandparents in their home. Ashley's parents say they became concerned when she developed early puberty at the age of six. They spoke with their doctor at Seattle Children's Hospital about mitigating his growth process to minimize his adult height and weight. They also discussed two other treatments that they believed would improve Ashley's quality of adult life. One of them was a hysterectomy, which would prevent Ashley from experiencing menstrual cramps and prevent her from going about her daily activities – feeding her, grooming her. However, her mother had no idea of her condition and did not know how to help her take care of herself. I personally took her to school and spoke to teachers who advised her to enroll her in a school for people with disabilities. She was falling behind in classes and it was affecting her mentally and emotionally. She was visually impaired and no one in the family knew it until she took a vision test intended for her. She is now 22 and I am amazed at how much she has blossomed. Once glued to the television, watching cartoons and the like, she now watches YouTube videos on her iPad, face-timing with friends and family. When our grandmother passed away a few years ago, she took it upon herself to comfort everyone. If her growth had been hindered, she would not be the person she is today..