“Progeria is an extremely rare genetic diseaseLinks to an external site. that causes rapid aging in children. Newborns with the disorder appear to be healthy at birth but usually start to show signs of premature aging during their first one to two years of life. Their growth rate slows and they don’t gain weight as expected. Children with the condition have typical intelligence. However, their rapid aging causes distinct physical characteristics, including: hair loss (baldness), prominent eyes, aged, wrinkled skin, a thin, beaked nose, disproportionately small face compared to head size, loss of fat under the skin.
Progeria gets its name from the Greek word “geras,” which means, “old age.” The classic type of progeria is called Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome, or HGPS. Dr. Jonathan Hutchinson and Dr. Hastings Gilford originally described the disease in the late 1800s.
Progeria is always fatal. The average age of death is 14.5 years, although some adults with progeria will live into their early 20s. A drug called lonafarnib has been shown to slow down the progression of the disease.
Death most often occurs as a result of complications of severe atherosclerosisLinks to an external site.. This is the same heart disease that affects millions of typically aging adults but at a much younger age. Atherosclerosis occurs when plaque builds up within the walls of your arteries. This makes them less elastic and therefore, stiffer. Complications can lead to heart attackLinks to an external site. or strokeLinks to an external site. (Progeria, n.d.).”
Parents must decide whether to allow surgery to save the child, who may end up requiring costly long-term care and services for life, or withhold permission, thus causing the child to die.
Also, we will be concerned with which course of action would be the right one, not with who has the right to decide.
Respond to one of the following:
Using one of the moral systems (virtue ethics, Kantian ethics, utilitarianism, etc.) and its core principles from this course to support your view, do your best to definitely answer whether it is immoral for the parents to withhold surgery. (USLOs 6.1, 6.2, 6.3)
Using one of the moral systems (virtue ethics, Kantian ethics, utilitarianism, etc.) and its core principles from this course to support your view, do your best to definitely answer whether it is morally required for parents who have children with conditions like progeria to have do not resuscitate order. (USLOs 6.1, 6.2, 6.3)
Reference
Progeria. (n.d.). Cleveland Clinic. Retrieved September 11, 2023, from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17850-progeriaLinks to an external site.
Rachels, J. (1975). Active and passive euthanasia. New England Journal of Medicine, 292(2), 78-81.
