HOW LONG TO PROLONG LIFE? A REFLECTION ON THE “DIGNITIVE DEATH” IN LEO PESSINI'S PERSPECTIVE FOR SOCIAL BIOETHICS

Abstract

The present work seeks to analyze the need for ethical consideration in
therapeutic investment in the face of a scenario of imminent and inevitable death
from the perspective of the Doctor in Moral Theology and Bioeticist Leo Pessini.
The present study is dedicated to reflecting on the work Dystanasia: how long to
draw out the life, seeking to identify the conduct that best promote the relief and
comfort of patients and not those usually employed considered by medical
literature as disproportionate or futile. The use of disproportionate procedures
configures the practice of dystanasia, a condition that only prolongs the suffering
not only of patients, but also of the family members who watch the foolish
prolongation of the agony of their loved ones. Pessini, based on guidance from
the World Health Organization (WHO) and solid moral argument, defends the
current thesis of “dignified death” and the urgent introduction of palliative care in
public health.