Dax Cowart Case Study

Growing up in rural North Dakota, it was not an uncommon practice for farmers to put down sick or severely injured animals, whether it was a deer hit by a car or a cow with severe pneumonia. The idea is it is inhumane to allow animals to suffer, and in fact, not many people would actively condone the suffering of any living being; however, human and animal suffering is usually not seen as equivalent. Human life, often considered as intrinsically more valuable, is given much more consideration in terms of the possibility of a better future or fulfilling life; even to the point that human suffering is not deemed to be inhumane as long as there is hope for a meaningful life. However, hope for a better future is not a guarantee that the future …show more content…
While his treatment by the staff in the hospital and rehab would not happen in the same manner today, the pain and agony of his burns are still experienced by other burn victims or victims of severe smoke inhalation. For Dax, he was rushed to the hospital and started on painkillers along with sedation, but the combination of the two was not enough to control his pain. He claims the pain was excruciating throughout his treatments in the hospital and asked to die on many occasions, including immediately after the accident when he asked the farmer who found him to shoot him to end the pain. In modern times, this is still a possible scenario, especially for severely injured firefighters and first responders who have experience with rescuing those with burn injuries. These individuals may request to die before treatment is even administered so not to experience the same suffering as they witnessed in the people whom were …show more content…
First and foremost, it is important to recognize that past decisions should not be justified with future knowledge. There are many hypothetical situations and what-if statements that can help with future decision-making, but the "all's well ends well" logic fails because a good future cannot be guaranteed. The biggest problem that Dax Cowart faced was the fact that his pain was not controlled and in his words "one hour was an eternity, with the pain I was going through". To focus on other hypothetical situations, such as "what if your pain was controlled?", what if you had better support?", or as Dr. Burt puts it "how realistic were your expectations?" detracts from the immediate issue of is it more humane to allow a patient in agony to die, or to persuade him or her to continue