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Arguments Against Physician Aid In Dying

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Physician aid in dying in those with chronic/terminal illnesses has been a long debated bioethical issue. It’s important to address what exactly physician aid in dying entails when trying to address whether this is an acceptable medical prescription. Ethical principles involved include those of beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, and justice. Those who may reason for or against this, may argue differing ethical perspectives on each of these ethical principles. Arguments for this topic may address the idea that the patient has the right to end suffering. Arguments against may address non-maleficence and religion. Physician aid in dying is not murder or “doing harm” but instead a way out for those suffering endlessly. There are many differing …show more content…

When looking at this issue its important to focus on the ethical principles mentioned above. Autonomy is one of the most important issues that needs to be addressed. Medical, ethical, cultural, religious, and legal opposition to physician aid in dying takes away the autonomy of the patient. Those who are experiencing the side effects of a terminal illness are most in need of autonomy in their medical decisions. In an article in The Washington Post it stated that newest research done on those who seek physician aid in dying are showing motivations different than what most would think. Most would think that this is all about the pain the terminally ill patient experiences. However, the biggest concern of these patients was most commonly feeling a lack of control, they wanted to be autonomous and be capable of making that decision for themselves.4 Beneficence and non-maleficence can be discussed together in this case. Ending suffering of an individual who is fully capable and mentally sound, and giving them their wish to end their struggle would be considered doing good and avoiding harm to those who support physician aid in dying. In an article in The Washington Post the story of Brittany Maynard was discussed. This 29-year-old woman was forced to move to Oregon to fulfill her wish of dying the way she wanted after living with a horrible brain tumor. Her husband stated that “she was afraid that her final few days on this green earth would be ones where she was tortured by the tumor.”4 I am not sure how helping someone like Brittany would ever be considered doing harm or not doing good, as the dose relieved her of misery. Lastly, justice, being fair and equal to all human beings. Being fair and equal goes right back to autonomy, physician aid in dying support and legal backing in all states would allow for all those suffering most to have the power to make a decision that

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642 Words | 3 Pages

The ethical principle of autonomy provides for respect for the patient’s autonomy to make decisions and choices concerning their life and death. Respecting the patient’s autonomy goes against the principles of beneficence and non-maleficence. There also exists the issue of religious beliefs the patient, family, or the caretaker holds, with which the caretaker has to grapple. The caretaker thus faces issues of fidelity to patient welfare by not abandoning the patient or their family, compassionate provision of pain relief methods, and the moral precept to neither hasten death nor prolong life.

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1121 Words | 5 Pages

Patients seek relief from symptoms as unremitting severe pain, difficulty breathing as like choking and suffocation, nausea and vomiting. A terminally ill patient has the worry and concern about the well-being of their families who are often taking care of the dying loved one and paying the expensive bills for their treatments (The Positive Aspects of Physician Assisted Suicide). There are some people that are not for Physician Assisted Suicide because it is against some religion; it demeans the value of human life and they think that doctors are given too much power and it could be wrong and unethical (should an incurably-ill patient be able to commit physician assisted suicide?). People that are not for Physician Assisted Suicide because there is grief involved. Sometimes what is to be a lethal prescription ends up not being so lethal?

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857 Words | 4 Pages

In current society a debate on a controversial topic is rocking the nation. The debate of the Right to Die has been put back on the spotlight after an advocate for the cause made the choice to end her own life after being diagnosed with a terminal disease. The Right to Die is a campaign which supports every individual's choice to die when faced with a terminal disease. A specific form is called Physician Assisted Suicide which was the way the advocate chose to die. A Physician Assisted Suicide is when a physician prescribes a competent patient a lethal dose of drugs so he/she may use to intentionally end their own life whenever they see fit.

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1013 Words | 5 Pages

In the documentary, Bill Moyers talks to three terminally ill patients, their families, and their doctors about the concerns with physician-assisted suicide (PAS). PAS allows a terminally ill patient to hasten an inevitable and unavoidable death through a lethal dose. The patients considered PAS in order to end their prolonged suffering. The legal role of advance directives in end of life issues allows a patient to specify how he wishes to be treated by a healthcare provider during a progressively weakened state. Advance directives may provide patients with freedom to choose end of life treatment, but moral and religious implications, the ethical battle between a physician’s duty to care and inner-conscious, and state laws pose threats to PAS.

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739 Words | 3 Pages

However, no matter what the circumstance is, physician-assisted suicide is not a good remedy for terminally illness and therefore should not be legalized. There is the argument that under specific conditions, physician-assisted

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1130 Words | 5 Pages

Terminally ill patients with cancer acknowledged dying at their preferred place of death as highly important.” This is a perfect example of how it is known that people who are terminal would rather be made comfortable and be able to die in peace. If the states were to make this legal the patients who are in so much pain that they would rather die would be able to do that. These patients do not want to be a burden to those around them. If it was legal physicians could come to the place where the patient is most comfortable and they could have their loved ones around them and they would be able to go in a peaceful way.

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781 Words | 4 Pages

Physician-assisted Suicide and Ethical Principles The responsibility a physician has to his patients and society is established by medical ethics and is at a greater degree than the law (Sulmasy & Mueller, 2017). The ethical principles, beneficence, autonomy, nonmaleficence, and promotion of fairness and social justice, are the basis for a physician’s duties to his patients. He is a member of a profession with ethical obligations; he is not just a service provider, but a moral advocate. Both medical ethics and the law support the patient’s right to refuse therapy.

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814 Words | 4 Pages

Their argument is that the medical practice of physician-assisted death is unethical because it violates the bioethical principle of nonmaleficence, which refers to the obligation of the physician to not cause needless harm. Physician-assisted death is not causing needless harm because the patient themselves is requesting the death-dealing medication and taking them, or not taking them, when, and if, they feel ready to die. It would be needless harm if the physician in question actively euthanatized the patient by administering the death-dealing medications without the patient’s consent. However, from a legal standpoint, physician-assisted death does not include active euthanasia, which is illegal in all fifty states; it simply requires the physician to provide the mentally competent patient with the information they asked for regarding the process and a prescription for the death dealing medication. The physician is not causing needless harm to a terminally ill patient who wishes to die mercifully on their own time instead of six months down the line in possible pain and suffering.

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1703 Words | 7 Pages

Many people like to say that people take the role of God into their own hands and that they shouldn’t be allowed to do that. One of the biggest critics of this is the Catholic Church who released a statement of disagreement with the way that Brittany Maynard attempted to control her own destiny. While the church wanted to make clear that they were not judging Brittany Maynard herself, they were critical of her planning her death (Kedmey). They think that since God is the one that put us here that person (the patient) should not be allowed to take his life away simply because they are suffering from a terminal disease. Some people believe that it is easy, that the pain can be numbed, the silent suffering can be heard or understood, that all things can get better.

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1118 Words | 5 Pages

Though these professionals surely sympathize with their suffering patients, they must not be forced or allowed by law or by the patient or by the patient’s family to end life. Physician assisted suicide should not be legal in the United States because some illnesses, though detrimental to the body causing individuals to wish for death, can be treated, because it

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1071 Words | 5 Pages

I think arguments opposing it are the most compelling. Physician-assisted suicide would violate human dignity, viewing disabled family members as burdens would increase, and it would corrupt the profession of medicine by permitting something that is supposed to be used for healing to be used for killing. Death assisted with medication from a doctor and dying alone in a hospital bed is a heartbreaking concept to me. It pains me that patients with terminal illnesses would make the decision to end their life because they are miserable or believe they are a burden to their family. Life is a precious gift we have been given.

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1176 Words | 5 Pages

Based on these biomedical ethics guidelines, physician assisted suicide can be argued as unethical. For physician-assisted suicide to occur, a physician must prescribe lethal medication to a terminally ill patient. Judges on this case argue "the distribution of prescriptions for lethal dosages of

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1105 Words | 5 Pages

If patients have the right to refuse medical treatment, they should have the right to choose to die under certain circumstances. Those being, they meet an age requirement, have a terminal illness, and are mentally unwell. One of the benefits of physician-assisted suicide is that patients will no longer suffer physically or emotionally. Being sick and in pain for such long periods of time causes patients to become tired and lose their dignity, “Even though patients nearing death have concerns about physical pain and suffering, they are also highly focused on loss of dignity, loss of control, and being a burden or dependent on others”(Alters). Incurable pain and sickness should have a way to end.

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788 Words | 4 Pages

Physician-Assisted Suicide: A Bioethical Conundrum Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old Oregon resident diagnosed with Stage IV brain cancer, has scheduled her death for November 1, 2014. Unable to bear the thought of a natural death, Maynard’s physician wrote a prescription that will end her life (Bever, 2014). In the United States, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington have decriminalized physician-assisted suicide (Eckholm, 2014). Oregon’s so-called, Death with Dignity Act, implies the natural act of dying is in fact, undignified.

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623 Words | 3 Pages

A very controversial topic lately is that of euthanasia. Physician assisted suicide is a very debatable ethical issue because people have different morals. I argue that in some cases it is ethical and others it is not. I believe that if someone is going to die, that there is absolutely no cure available that if they want to die via physician assisted suicide that is their choice. One of the main reasons that people chose to die via PAS is because they are in pain and don’t want their families to see them miserable.

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