Physician Assisted Suicide Ethical Dilemma Essay

Physician-Assisted Suicide and its Ethical Dilemma

Alexandra N. Gionta

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

Physician-Assisted Suicide and its Ethical Dilemma

Introduction

As an aspiring nurse in California, an ethical dilemma that I am likely to come across is that involved with patient euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (PAS). In voluntary active Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, a doctor administers a treatment upon request of the patient that will initiate their tranquil death. This is usually done in the case that the patient is of a certain age and diagnosed with a terminal illness that causes them suffering. A common misconception is that PAS is the same as euthanasia, but there is a distinct difference between the two. During voluntary active euthanasia, the physician is directly administering a drug to end the patient’s life, such as an injection, where in PAS, the doctor is prescribing a medication to the patient so that they can autonomously end their own life (Frileux, Lelievre, Sastre, Mullet, & Socrum, 2003, p. 330). While active euthanasia is legal in some countries, it is illegal in all the United States and can result to the conviction of a practicing physician if performed. When

If PAS is not employed when the patient requests it, then they are potentially stripped from their right to patient care, where if PAS is administered, the doctor could be held liable for any misuse of the prescription and essentially the wrongful death of the patient. In both cases the patient’s loved ones must suffer from the inflicted death of their beloved or watch them suffer from whatever illness is causing them pain. These considerations make it difficult to determine the morality of Patient Assisted Suicide, making it an ethical issue which can be discussed using several ethical