Jun 212011
 

Dax Cowart is the subject of a famous case in medical ethics, one probably well known to many readers of this blog already.  Hideously burned in a propane gas explosion in 1973 he wished to refuse treatment and die.  He was treated anyway against his will — for ten years — an experience which Cowart has compared to be repeatedly skinned alive:  see the Wikipedia article on Cowart here and an interview with him here.    He is mentioned in David Benatar’s Better Never to Have Been (p. 63) as an example of some who has suffered so much that he maintains that, even though he has a decent quality of life now, that quality of life does not justify the suffering he underwent, and that he should have been allowed to die.

Cowart has been the subject of two documentaries, which I believe to have had the titles Please Let Me Die and Dax’s Case.  I have so far been unable to find copies of either of them — does any reader know if they are available?  If so, please comment.  Thanks.

 Posted by at 05:44

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