Active Euthanasia Essay

In this essay I will analyse if killing a patient is better, in a medical context, rather than letting them die. I will discuss how people’s opinions of euthanasia are altered by the doctrine of the American Medical Association, religious affiliations, best interests, the psychological and emotional trauma related to letting die, obligations of medical professionals and justifications, and whether killing or letting die is better in a medical context. Before continuing I will refer to killing as active euthanasia and letting die as passive euthanasia. Active euthanasia involves a physician providing medical means such as a lethal injection to a patient that has very little to no chance of survival in order to alleviate their suffering. (Bernat,

However, there are many cases in which the interference of natural sequences are necessary and are in the patient's best interests. Sometimes the natural sequence are not always the best path and therefore, passive euthanasia in this sense is justifiable. It does ultimately come down to what the patient wants as opposed to what is considered moral in a medical context. If a patient is dying of a disease such as Alzheimer’s disease and wishes to die from a lethal injection, is it better to deny this request or to accept it? In this case, denying this request would mean an unmeasurable amount of pain for the patient and for their family. For the patient, this would mean slowly but surely losing all of their memories of who they are, experiences, friends and family and forgetting how to do simple learned tasks such as talking, eating, walking, and going to the bathroom. Being unable to complete these tasks can be embarrassing for the patient as it diminishes their confidence and mental health. Of course, this disease affects each person at different rates but ultimately, they all are unable to perform basic daily task which can also affect the patient’s family and their mental wellbeing. Active euthanasia on the other hand, would mean not having to experience the prolonged pain and suffering that is Alzheimer’s disease and in this case killing is better than letting die, in a medical