The government has gone crazy. 3 major developments in the medical field in the space of a week.
The first and most expected one was the legalising of sale of organ. This come as no surprise to me as it arises from the case of CK Tang's Tang Wee Sung. Once it was announced that he was being charged with buying an organ, and with the hue and cry, I knew it was a matter of time before the law was changed. Now I wondered if the person charged had been an ordinary citizen, would this change have come about?
Next unexpectedly was the debate on euthanasia. The govenment is considering this although its exact form is not known yet. This is as opposed to the Advance Medical Directive which is basically a piece of rubbish not worth the paper it is written on. I remembered many years ago when I asked the GP at the Company's clinic about it, the guy had totally no idea what it was about. From what I understand, by itself, the AMD is of no use as doctors are more or less already practising some sort of withholding treatment (abeit with the patient's family consent) for cases where there is no chance of survival. How will the debate on euthansia turned out eventually? Already, the religious groups are vehemently objecting to it. Life is sacred and should not be taken away - not by doctors, not by law. But as in the debate on the organ donation, everybody seem to forget that the person most affected by this is the patient himself. Has anybody spare a thought for him? What is life if it means lying in a bed all day unable to move and depending on caregiver to wash and change him?
And the final news - the announcement that women egg donors will be paid. This come as a surprise to me. I didn't know that here in Singapore, we allow donation of human egg or is it only meant for research only? Will this lead to surrogate mother, storing of own egg for future use etc?
As society advances and medical breakthrough happen, expect more and more changes to the way we human manipulate our own human lifes. One day, human cloning will be seen as normal, euthansia especially of those unable to contribute to society will be acceptable and organ trading - it will be just as easy as going to the supermarket to buy groceries!
To make the decision to end a parent's life is very, very difficult. I brought up this topic with my parents-in-law last Sunday. My MIL was very approving of it, like you say, what's life if you're lying there all the time, what abt medical costs, etc etc. I understand the rationale but for a child, it's a very painful decision to let go.
ReplyDelete