Case 1: The Principle of Autonomy
A woman enters the emergency room with stomach pain. She undergoes a CT scan and is diagnosed with an abdominal aortic aneurysm, a weakening in the wall of the aorta which causes it to stretch and bulge (this is very similar to what led to John Ritter’s death). The physicians inform her that the only way to fix the problem is surgically, and that the chances of survival are about 50/50. They also inform her that time is of the essence, and that should the aneurysm burst, she would be dead in a few short minutes. The woman is an erotic dancer; she worries that the surgery will leave a scar that will negatively affect her work; therefore, she refuses any surgical treatment. Even after much pressuring from the physicians, she adamantly refuses surgery. Feeling that the woman is not in her correct state of mind and knowing that time is of the essence, the surgeons decide to perform the procedure without consent. They anesthetize her and surgically repair the aneurysm. She survives, and sues the hospital for millions of dollars.
Questions:
• Do you believe that the physicians’ actions can be justified in any way?
• Is there anything else the physicians could have done?
• Is it ever right to take away someone’s autonomy? (Would a court order make the
physician’s decisions ethical?)
• What would you do if you were one of the health care workers in the emergency room witnessing the exchange between the physician and the patient?
Formatting: The paper will be approximately two pages of content, double spaced, using APA formatting.  APA formatting includes a title page and a separate page for references. The title page and the references page are not included in the two pages.  Please refer to the APA resources at the OWL at Purdue for guidance.  A minimum of two credible references are needed. 
If you are using the pdf of the Principles of Bioethics, you may use this citation:
Citation: Erlanger Medical Ethics Orientation Manual. (2000).  Section 5. Principles of biomedical ethics.  
In-Text Citation: (Erlanger, 2000)
The file attached is the rubric.