Current Issues Surrounding Death A hot topic in today’s media and in discussion is the idea of physician assisted suicide and end of life care. There are several legal, ethical, social, and political issues surrounding this idea, which makes it a controversial topic. This paper will discuss some of these issues and explore the idea of physician assisted suicide and end of life care in more detail. Physician assisted suicide is defined 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 (Merriam-Webster, 2015). By this definition it is easy to see how this topic may be controversial. …show more content…
31% stated that no matter what the circumstance was, physician assisted suicide was never acceptable. 27% stated that physician assisted suicide was always acceptable in situations like the ones presented above. 17% said that physician assisted suicide was acceptable if the patient repeatedly requests to die. 24% believed that physician assisted suicide was acceptable if the patient was old (for example 85 years of age). I thought this study was interesting because of the wide variety of views on what was considered “acceptable.” I think this shows why it is so hard for political leaders to come to an agreement on the terms of this issue (Bugay, et al., …show more content…
As nurses we have the responsibility to give unbiased education on all of the options available for end of life care (Meier, et al., 1998). Before attending nursing school, I had never thought much about the idea of physician assisted suicide. It was brought up once in one of our Topics of Nursing classes. Our teacher asked us to raise our hands if we agreed with physician assisted suicide in a terminally ill patient. I was surprised by how many hands were raised. I didn’t raise my hand because I felt like I didn’t have enough information on the issue or had enough experience in the health care field to know which “side” I was on. We continued to discuss why this topic of physician assisted suicide was a hot topic. We watched a video about Brittany Maynard’s story of dying with dignity which was huge on social media. This video about Brittany Maynard’s story of physician assisted suicide opened my eyes to what was legally ok and going on in the world, and not too far away in Oregon (Bushak,
Physician assisted suicide would not only benefit the patient by allowing them to end their pain, but it would also benefit the state by lowering the costs of
Public opinion polls showed increased support for physician assisted suicide. This was due in part to technological advances in medicine as well as a greater recognition of patient’s rights.” Twenty-nine-year-old Brittany Maynard, utilized Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act, took her own life in November 2014 following a diagnosis of terminal brain cancer. “A Pew poll conducted after Ms. Maynard’s death, revealed that people viewed this as a heroic act. Also, revealed, the majority of Americans, most likely including physicians, now favor legalizing physician-assisted suicide for painful and incurable conditions: 68 percent in favor, 28 percent opposed.
Jack Kevorkian was a compassionate doctor who believed in his patients’ rights to choose physician assisted suicide and some say he was hero while others called him a monster or Dr. Death. He assisted 130 terminally ill patients to voluntarily end their own lives with dignity, peace, and at their own time to avoid severe pain, humiliation, and added stress to the patients’ family members. He believed it was the patients’ choice to end their life on their own terms without the government or insurance companies intruding, or a physician’s “keep a patient alive at all costs” mentality. “Lethal injection is now the main method of execution in all but two states due to our desire for the worst of the worst to die in a dignified manner, yet we want the terminally ill to endure suffering, pain, humiliation, and the erosion of their estate without giving them an opportunity to choose the time and method of their death?” Dr. Kevorkian believed a great start for Congress to enact a law providing any terminally ill patient the ability to seek a humane, dignified death by lethal injection.
One definition for physician assisted suicide is when a patient’s death is facilitated by a physician, who will enable the patient to perform a life-ending act through the supply of the necessary means or information. The very first initiative to legalize physician assisted suicide was in 1991, appearing on the ballot in Washington state. However, this attempt failed with voters turning it down by a slim margin. Then, after a lengthy legal process, physician assisted suicide was finally first legalized in Washington state in June of 1997. And to this day, only 9 states (Washington, Oregon, California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Colorado, New Jersey, Vermont, and Maine) plus Washington DC have legalized physician assisted suicide, with 1 state (Montana)
Assisted Suicide: A Controversial Topic Assisted suicide, also known as physician-assisted death (PAD), has been a topic of controversy for decades. While some argue that PAD should be legalized to grant terminally ill patients the right to die with dignity, others believe it goes against the sanctity of life. This essay will explore the arguments for and against assisted suicide and offer recommendations on how to approach the issue. PAD is Important
“Be smart, be strong, live honorably and with dignity, and just hold on” (Fray). Physician assisted suicide or better known as Death with Dignity isn’t your everyday topic or thought, but for the terminally ill it’s a constant want. The Death with Dignity isn’t something that all people or religions are in favor of and nor is the act passed in all states in the United States. Only three states in the U.S. today, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington offer their residents the option to have aid in dying as long as all the requirements are met. Death with Dignity doesn’t effect just the terminally ill person, but as well as family and friends around them creating many conflicting thoughts when opinion if Death with Dignity is truly moral and a choice
“Legislation that allows people to end their lives automatically creates incentives to seek death as a cost-saving option. The elderly and infirm are seen as burdens and can easily be disposed of. Suicide becomes the easy way out.” (Ben Broussard) Most of the time physicians are against the idea of physician assisted suicide because it goes against their job description and personal beliefs.
After researching both sides of the argument, it is clear that the benefits of physician-assisted suicide outweigh the disadvantages. The benefits of ending a patient’s pain and suffering, minimizing the emotional and financial effects on families, and preserving the right for patients to decide their own fate, supports the legalization of physician-assisted suicide.
Patients have the right to the kind of treatment they want. 3) Conclusion a) Physician assisted suicide can help treat the terminally ill how they would like to be treated. b) The long history of assisted suicide speaks for itself in the matter of if it should be legal or
Physician assisted suicide has been an intensely debated problem for years but if used properly, could be an effective way to help those who are suffering at the end of their life. Countless people have been advocating for physician assisted suicide for years and the most famous advocate for assisted suicide was Dr. Jack Kevorkian. He was a pathologist but received the nickname Dr. Death after it was estimated that between 1990 and 1999 he assisted 130 terminally ill individuals in their assisted suicides (“Jack Kevorkian”). Dr. Kevorkian is considered a crusader for physician
As said by A. C. Grayling, philosopher and founder of New College of Humanities in London, "To believe that mere length of existence, however, unbearable and painful, trumps the kindness of granting someone's request for help to end their suffering easily and quickly, is to have one's priorities utterly wrong" (10). What would you do if you knew the person closest to you was going to suffer for the rest of their life? Assisted suicide is more than just a last resort you are protecting your loved one’s or maybe even your own sanctity of life. America’s governing system should nationally allow physician-assisted suicide for the terminally ill, not only because the morality of the situation is justified, also it is any patient’s own will to die, and patients would not abuse the gift of physician-assisted suicide.
“51% of Americans support assisted suicide when the process is described as doctors helping a patient "commit suicide" while 70% of Americans supported assisted suicide when it was described as allowing doctors to ‘end the patient's life by some painless means.’” Euthanasia is simply doctors ending a patient’s life by painless means and nothing more. However, in some opinions, these patients should not be given the option of assisted suicide because they feel that the patients still have a chance to live a good life, and for some, this may be the case. However, for the majority of people diagnosed with terminal illnesses, their is no positive prognosis or outlook for them, and they are going to suffer until they pass naturally. Terminally ill patients should be allowed to end their life via assisted suicide after they completely understand what euthanasia entails and
Assisted dying is becoming more and more of a common talk around everyone in the world. Whether a person is for it or against it, it is still something to controverse about. In this article I am going to talk about the pros and the cons of assisted dying, as well as my views of this delicate topic. “Assisted suicide is providing another person with the knowledge or means to intentionally end his or her own life; an example would be a doctor prescribing barbiturates to someone with a terminal illness who then takes the medication and dies.” (Thompson 2014).
A controversial practice that invokes a debate over how beneficial its intentions are is the use of euthanasia. The argument switches between whether or not putting terminally ill patients to death with the assistance of a physician is justifiable and right. Legalizing the practice of euthanasia is a significant topic among many people in society, including doctors and nurses in the medical field, as it forces people to decide where to draw the line between relieving pain and simply killing. While some people see euthanasia as a way to helping a patient by eliminating their pain, it is completely rejected by others who see it as a method of killing.
Euthanasia and Grey’s Anatomy Euthanasia has quickly become a controversial topic in the medical field. Healthcare professionals have always been viewed as healers or people that do whatever it takes to fight illness. Euthanasia, however, changes this traditional view of healthcare professionals. Many people are confused about the definition of euthanasia.