In the last decade, a controversial topic in the medical field in America is about Physician-assisted suicide. Many citizens are questioning where the line stands in whether or not this goes against medical ethos, and if it is a right for terminally ill patients. While there are benefits and deficits to either side, I believe everyone should have the right to choose to participate in assisted suicide when battling a terminal illness.
While a handful of states in America that include, Oregon, Washington, California, Colorado, Vermont, and with court decision, Montana have already passed the Death with Dignity Act, it is still not easily accessed and there are a lot of parameters regarding the Act ("Death with Dignity"). In Oregon you have to meet certain criteria. According to the Oregon Health Authority, to be able to participate in the Act, the patient must reside in Oregon, be a legal consenting adult, and have been diagnosed with a terminal illness with six or less months to live. To participate in the Act the patient must follow specific guidelines which must be followed and there are no short cuts. From the Oregon Health Authority's regarding the Death with Dignity Act, the terminally ill
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Physician-assisted-suicide uses an oral dosage of a barbiturate which allows the patient to take the dosage themselves, by themselves; no drug administration is required from a physician. However, chemotherapy, a drug administered to patients fighting cancer, is equally as hardening on the body but is widely accepted in society. What is the difference between these two medications when they are both given in the aspect of healing the patient; providing one the opportunity to take control of their terminal illness and the other a fighting chance at