Physician-Assisted Suicide

Others have argued that physician assisted suicide is not ethically permissible, because it contradicts the traditional duty of physician’s to preserve life and to do no harm. Furthermore, many argue that if physician assisted suicide is legalized, abuses would take place, because as social forces condone the practice, it will lead to “slippery slope” that forces (PAS) on the disabled, elderly, and the poor, instead of providing more complex and expensive palliative care. While these arguments continue with no end in sight, more and more of the terminally ill cry out in agony, for the right to end their own suffering.

The word suicide gives many people negative feelings and is a socially taboo subject. However, suicide might be beneficial to terminally ill patients. Physician- assisted suicide has been one of the most controversial modern topics. Many wonder if it is morally correct to put a terminally ill patient out of their misery. Physicians should be able to meet the requests of their terminally ill patients. Unfortunately, a physician can be doing more harm by keeping someone alive instead of letting them die peacefully. For example, an assisted suicide can bring comfort to patients. These patients are in excruciating pain and will eventually perish. The government should not be involved in such a personal decision. A physician- assisted suicide comes with many benefits for the patient. If a person is terminally ill and wants a physician assisted suicide, then they should receive one.

Did you know, about 57% of physicians today have received a request for physician assisted suicide due to suffering from a terminally ill patient. Suffering has always been a part of human existence, and these requests have been occurring since medicine has been around. Moreover, there are two principles that all organized medicine agree upon. The first one is physicians have a responsibility to relieve pain and suffering of dying patients in their care. The second one is physicians must respect patients’ competent decisions to decline life-sustaining treatment. Basically, these principles state the patients over the age of 18 that are mentally stable have the right to choose to end their life if they are suffering from pain. As of right

Imagine a cancer patient on a short rode to death. The pain this patient is experiencing is unreal and unimaginable to most. The pain medicine that can be used does little to take the agony away. The doctors can put the patient in an induced coma, but what kind of living is that? It is not living. The patient does not want to go on. Is it so wrong to ask for a way out? With less than six months to live, the patient’s hope is gone. Many argue that euthanasia is not ethical, but is it really ethical to let someone live in constant, horrifying pain and agony? While in some cases having the right to die might result in patients giving up on life, physician-assisted suicide should be legalized in all fifty states for terminally ill patients with worsening or unbearable pain.

Physician-assisted suicide is a controversial subject all around the world. Although it is legal in some countries and states, such as the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Oregon, Montana, Washington, and Vermont it is not yet legal in most (Finlay, 2011). People travel from all around the world to these locations to receive information. Physician-assisted suicide is when terminally ill and mentally capable patients perform the final act themselves after being provided with the required means and information. The elemental causes found for physician-assisted suicide include: terminal cancer, mental and behavioral disorders, diseases of the nervous system, disease of the circulatory system, and diseases of the musculoskeletal system

When talking about doctors, death and incurable diseases, one of the most controversial topic that comes up is Physician assisted suicide. Webster’s dictionary define it as, “suicide by a patient facilitated by means or information (as a drug prescription or indication of the lethal dosage) provided by a physician who is aware of how the patient intends to use such means or information.” Most of us have experienced the pain of seeing our loved ones dying in a hospital since doctors and modern medicine can only help us so much. Physician assisted suicide not only helps alleviates the never ending pain, but patient also dies with dignity. On the other hand, people who oppose it, have strong religious and ethical beliefs. They think that Physician assisted suicide demeans the human value and violates doctor’s Hippocratic Oath. After researching a lot about this topic, I decided that taking a moderate stance would be the best option because even though I agree that PAS (Physician assisted suicide) goes against medical ethics and religious beliefs I also believe that sometimes PAS is the best option available for people who are fatally sick and want to die with dignity and peace. In this paper I will discuss the history of physician assisted suicide, why is it important to have this option available and how should we limit PAS to make a compromise with people who are against it.

According to data from Washington and Oregon in 2012, there were 160 physician-assisted suicides and 90 percent of these deaths were of patients in hospices care. This poses a unique issue for hospice caregivers because on one hand they are not looking to prolong life, but on the other hand they are also not looking to hasten the process. There will always be a debate in hospices on whether or not physicians should assist in suicide of patients (Campbell & Cox, 26). Because a vast majority of the patients who opt for physician-assisted suicide are in hospice care, Hospice physicians are often referred to when a patient is considering physician assisted suicide. Even with the laws in Oregon allowing physician assisted suicide, many hospices refuse to condone it and many hospices will not perform physician assisted suicide. They refuse to perform assisted death because they seek to remain faithful to the historically formative values of hospice care. These include the philosophy that “death is a natural continuation of the human lifespan, that the dignity of each dying patient should be affirmed, that the quality of a patients remaining life should be promoted through the highest level of caring commitment, and that hospices should evince a distinctive devotion to symptom and pain management.” (Campbell and cox 27). Another reason certain hospices do not allow physician assisted suicide is because they are religiously affiliated. They are restricted from administering physician-assisted suicide because it is against their religion to do

However, in Oregon, the average user of the Death with Dignity Act holds onto the prescription they receive from the doctor before they take it is around forty-two to forty-nine days (Friedman 78). If a person was depressed, he or she would have most likely use the lethal prescription sooner than forty days after they obtain it. Additionally, fifteen percent of the people who receive said prescriptions chose to wait to use them according to The Oregon Department of Human Services (Friedman 88). Similarly, one Safeguard is a mental evaluation makes certain the patient is of sound mind (Brock 60). This ascertains those who only wish to die because they see no way out, other than to not suffer, can not abuse the option of euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide. Besides, some of the people choose to either die of natural causes or live week to week instead of using the prescribed medication they obtained from the doctor (Friedman 81). Evidence exists to present the fact of just having the lethal medication as an option gives people the peace of mind in their final days or months (Friedman 80). Thus, the probability for any one person to be successfully coerced into using physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia is extremely

Physician Assisted Suicide has been a very controversial topic in the recent years. P.A.S can also be known as physician assisted death or euthanasia. Many states wonder wither this practice is morally right or wrong. Physician Assisted Suicide is when a doctor administers patient lethal drugs, upon the request of the patient, with the end result being death. A popular question that surfaces when this topic is brought up is: Who should decide if a terminally ill patient had the right to commit physician assisted suicide? In support of the previous statements, this

Imagine sitting in the doctor’s office waiting to hear the results of a recent test that was done. The doctor comes into the room and breaks the news that you have a debilitating illness that will continue to progress quickly, eventually leaving you in a vegetative state. Knowing that there is no cure, and not many options for treatment, what would be the next step to consider? If you had the option to die, would you take it? Physician-assisted suicide remains a controversial topic in today’s society. With its political, social, and ethical issues, many questions arise on the topic of whether more states should legalize it or not. This paper will discuss the ethical, social, and political

Michele M. Mathes presents the topic of physician-assisted suicide in health care and expands on the views of professional health organizations and the opposing views of others. Health organizations such as the American Nurses Association have a specific code for nurses which goes against assisting in the suicide of a patient while other qualified individuals believe assisted suicide should be practiced but with a few modifications to the process currently in place. Though there are opposing views, a single nurse has the ability to decide whether or not they are willing to participate in assisted suicide if they find themselves in that situation. The author of this source is qualified both in her degree and in advocacy, and the article was

In today’s society, assisted-suicide is a highly debatable topic. Due to advancements in medicine and medical technology, that can prolong life and slow down the process of dying, the desire for assisted suicides has increased. Assisted-suicide is when a health care professional provides a patient the knowledge and means to intentionally kill themselves (Harris 2006). An example of assisted-suicide is providing a patient pills to take to end their lives. Patient assisted-suicides are only legal in six states within the United States; Oregon, Washington, Vermont, California, Montana and Colorado (Hudson 2015). In order for an individual to legally qualify the patient must have the capability to effectively communicate their healthcare decision,

The issue of physician-assisted suicide has been highly controversial for many years in the United States, and the controversy continues today with no apparent end in sight. The idea that a doctor would assist a voluntary patient with that patient's death is repugnant to many people on ethical, moral and philosophical grounds. Still, physician-assisted suicide is legal in Oregon, Montana and Washington State, and in four other states (North Carolina, Utah, Wyoming and Ohio) physician-assisted suicide is not a technically illegal albeit it is not considered a crime. Moreover, when a person has been diagnosed as terminally ill and has reached a point in his or her life where the pain needs to be continually drowned in morphine and there is a vacuum in terms of one's sense of self, who is to say that person does not have a right to take steps necessary to end life? Therein lies the root of the controversy: modern medicine has invented countless remedies for disease and doctors and nurses take oaths to sustain life, but when individuals are in dire physical straits with no hope for a future, do they have the right to make the ultimate decision on life or death?

The right to assisted suicide is a significant topic that concerns people all over the United States. The debates go back and forth about whether a dying patient has the right to die with the assistance of a physician. Some are against it because of religious and moral reasons. Others are for it because of their compassion and respect for the dying. Physicians are also divided on the issue. They differ where they place the line that separates relief from dying--and killing. For many the main concern with assisted suicide lies with the competence of the terminally ill. Many terminally ill patients who are in the final stages of their lives have requested doctors to aid them in exercising active euthanasia. It is sad to realize that these

“Physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia have been profound ethical issues confronting doctors since the birth of Western medicine, more than 2,000 years ago,” Ezekiel Emanuel. Assisted suicide, however, is different than euthanasia because the physicians can not administer the drugs to the patients. This means that the patient must do it themselves, while assisted by a physician. The process of physician assisted suicide is a very controversial issue due to the question of the morality of this process. Although this is done in order to relieve an ill patient of suffering, this often can be taken advantage of by the mentally ill. The terminally ill are taken advantage of whenever the use of physician assisted suicide is built up in a such a way that it seems like the right thing to do. Hyping up the idea of assisted suicide as the easy way out is an influenced temptation. Multiple moral problems develop as a result of changing the perceptions on the value of life. With patients having to administer it themselves patient - themselves = agreement https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/595/01/, in the long run, this is still suicide, and the promotion of suicide even if it is for a reasonable purpose. Although physician assisted suicide does allow patients to end their suffering, it takes a toll on their family and the people around them; therefore we need to take action in order to end physician assisted suicide. Taking action can be done by signing the petition “Put a