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The Pros And Cons Of Physician Assisted Suicide

641 Words3 Pages

Physician assisted suicide was first introduced to our society in 1997, when the citizens of Oregan voted to legalize this highly controversial practice (Friedman, 2007). At the time, they passed the “Death with Dignity Act, which allowed a terminally ill person meeting certain criteria to end his or her own life with the help of a doctor” (Friedman, 2007). When a patient meets all the requirements needed to undergo physician assisted suicide, he or she will voluntarily take a lethal dosage of medication at their own discretion. According to the 2006 Eight Annual Report on the Death with Dignity Act, only 17 percent of dying patients in Oregan consider physician assisted suicide, but only 2 percent go through with the procedure. Even though …show more content…

“While the traditonal role of the doctor is to help patients stay healthy and treat them when they get sick, this does not mean that [physician assisted suicide] is unethical” (Nakaya, 2015). These patients are aware of their situation and the amount of time they have remaining, which is why they should have control regarding how and when they pass away, since they know that their death is inevitable. In addition, if people have the right to sign a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) order and abort the child, why is it not legal throughout the nation, for patients with terminal illnesses to have the “right to die”? Physician assisted suicide is analogous to a DNR order since they both allow the patient to decide when they want to withdraw care from a physician. Patients who qualify for physician assisted suicide usually suffer from “severe body wasting, intractable vomiting, unrinary and bowl incontinence, [and] immobility” (Rogatz, 2005). The patients who suffer from these conditions tend to lose their dignity in the process, and in culmination with the constast pain, develop a desire to control how they handle their lives and future medical

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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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Physician- assisted suicide is the practice of providing terminally ill patients a prescription for medication to use with the intention of ending his or her life. According to the article “What’s Really Involved in Physician-Assisted Death?” pain was not the main reason patients made the request of physician-assisted suicide but ratherm loss of autonomy and dignity, inability to enjoy life and regular activities and other types of mental distress were the dominant motivations, the study found. Physician- assisted suicide should be legal for terminally ill patients. The patient’s family will not have to suffer and want have to watch the patients suffer for so long. Before starting physician- assisted suicide, it is made sure of that this is what the patient truly wants.

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Physician-assisted suicide has become an increasingly controversial topic over the last two decades. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Physician-assisted suicide is, “suicide by a patient facilitated by means (as a drug prescription) or by information (as an indication of a lethal dosage) provided by a physician aware of the patient's intent.” The process one must endure to partake in assisted suicide is rather extensive; not everyone who qualifies for it receives the medication. The idea began in 1990, when Dr. Jack Kevorkian assisted 54 year-old Janet Adkins of Portland, Oregon, who suffered from Alzheimer’s Disease, in committing suicide with his hand-made “suicide machine.” This machine had three stages: a saline solution, a sedative (thiopental), and finally a lethal dose of potassium chloride that would stop the heart altogether.

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Abstract Physician-assisted suicide is the idea that a physician can either administer a treatment, or otherwise forego a necessary treatment, to end the life of a person that is either suffering from a terminal illness or otherwise has been relegated to a life of excruciating pain and suffering. Although there are many different types of physician-assisted suicide, this paper discusses the implications of the legalization of voluntary-passive physician-assisted suicide, which means that a patient must willingly and knowingly request stop all life-saving treatment or acquire prescribed medications to end their life. The argument for this concept is based on the sanctity of life and mitigation of pain and suffering. Counterarguments include

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Physician-assisted suicide is a widely controversial issue that is discussed in today society. There are debates over whether it is ethically correct or whether assisted suicide should be legalized for the terminally ill. Each side of the arguments have different viewpoints concerning individual aspects of physician-assisted suicide. Such as certain guidelines that should exist if legalized. Advocates of physician-assisted suicide argue that it should be legal under circumstances such as great suffering through terminals illness.

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However, everything comes with a consequence. For doctors, they may never know whether they made the right decision, and they may feel regret it after the fact, thus ruining the rest of their lives. Furthermore, once the deed is done, patients don’t have the ability to change their minds, making this one of the most important, permanent, and impactful decisions they will ever make for themselves and their families. Physician assisted suicide once was widely considered murder, however, with a changing public outlook on how this can benefit patients and their loved ones, it should be considered an asset rather that a breach of the

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