A Crime of Compassion In the medical field it is taught to do what you can to save your patient, which means keep them Alive if you can for as long as you can. It is required to resuscitate a patient unless it is otherwise stated on their will. In this short story Mac’s nurse had every right to relieve Mac of his paying and suffering. Not only did she care for him as a patient but they developed a friendship where she understood he no longer wanted to live with pain. With that being said I do not feel that Barbara should be charged of murder. Although Doctors have strict orders on how patients should be cared for, they should also take into consideration that sometimes letting go is what the patient needs. In this situation Mac should not have been resuscitated 52 times for them to understand that it was his time to die. Sometimes doctors focus on their records of survivors to deceased, could this have been the situation for Mac’s doctor? Did he keep him alive to better his reputation? When it comes to Mac’s wife, she should have spoke up on her husband’s behalf and took charge of the situation; it might have been hard for her but in the end easier for him. If I was put in that situation I could not imagine letting a team of nurses continue to force my husband back to life. The Donahue show perceived Barbra as a horrible woman who committed a crime but who are they to judge? If it was them in this situation they may have done the same thing. To prevent future situations such as this one something should be done; a law should be passed that allows a spouse to decide whether or not his or her companion should continue to live, if it is not stated in their will. If they are suffering there is no point in letting them live under those conditions. If such law existed Barbra would never have been accused of murder.