ipl-logo

The Pros And Cons Of Physician Assisted Suicide

899 Words4 Pages

According to Merriam-Webster Physician Assisted suicide is defined as “Suicide by a patient facilitated by means or by information provided by a physician aware of the patient’s intent.” The topic of Assisted Suicide has many different viewpoints. One being medical ethics. Going through with the decision to prescribe lethal doses of medication to patients willingly, is seen very unethical to many people. Stated in Gale database most people who are for assisted suicide say it’s the right of the terminally ill person of sound mind to choose the time and manner of their own death (Gale). The state of Oregon in 1997 was the first state to pass a law “Death with Dignity” that allows patients to commit suicide with lethal doses of prescribed medication …show more content…

Do family members respond better to the quick way out or trying to fight their way through the pain as their family watches? The University of Michigan representative Howard Brody states assisted suicide in most cases leaves a larger burden. Family members must go through sadness and abnormal grieving from their family member choosing to commit suicide instead of a natural death. (Brody) Also, Brody states that it is hard to determine the real impacts upon families due to only a few states allow this legally. Which in return does not give doctors and scientists enough data to make factual assumptions? One major issue with physician assisted suicide was brought to my attention by Paige Cunningham. Cunningham states “Many people who have been given four months to live, but beat the expectations and are eligible to live longer.” She explains that if these individuals were to be given the option of physician assisted suicide, they could not be here today.Physician assisted suicide is seen to be ethical and unethical in the eyes of many people. There are pro’s and con’s to this issue, one pro being it can help cut down overpriced medical expenses. A con would be it causes more stress to the family members of the patient. Also, the financial side of the topic favors physician assisted suicide. Although both are expensive hospice care can rack up almost twice as much the cost of a physician assisted suicide. The laws regarding the topic are handled differently state to state. Most of the states that allow physician assisted suicide to

Show More
Related

The Pros And Cons Of Physician Assisted Suicide

500 Words | 2 Pages

Physician-assisted suicide should be legal because it is a compassionate response to relieve the suffering of a dying patient. California should pass the Death With Dignity Act, despite the negative connotations associated with physician-assited deaths. Instead of prolonging the suffering experienced by these patients, the patients should have the opportunity to end their lives on their own terms, peacefully and quietly. Jack Kervorkian coined the term “Death Doctor. He was a physician who abused his power and “assisted with more than 130 suicides.

Read More

The Pros And Cons Of Physician Assisted Suicide

1969 Words | 8 Pages

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.

Read More

The Pros And Cons Of Physician Assisted Suicide

1086 Words | 5 Pages

Physician-Assisted suicide is legal in five out of the fifty states in America. These states include: California, Montana, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. Physician-assisted suicide is considered acceptable when a patient has less than six months to live. Physician-assisted suicide was publicly brought to attention in 1990 after Dr. Kevorkian assisted over 40 people into committing suicide in Michigan. Before the process starts, the patient must meet the certain requirements before given a lethal drug.

Read More

The Pros And Cons Of Physician Assisted Suicide

1225 Words | 5 Pages

However, if the option of physician assisted suicide were available to patients, they would have the option of saving their families a significant amount of money, retaining both dignity and rectitude. As the current system is now, terminally ill patients suffer and wither away uselessly until their deaths, all the while seizing hundreds of thousands of dollars from their families. Although it may seem inhumane to encourage the terminally ill to die instead of getting treatment, it must also be taken into consideration that they are already going to die. Euthanasia would simply make their death meaningful and virtually painless for the patient and economically painless for

Read More

What Are The Pros And Cons Of Physician Assisted Suicide

744 Words | 3 Pages

By viewing both sides, physician assisted suicide is beneficial to patients and their families. Physician assisted suicide is very widely known. PAS is legal in five states; Oregon, Washington, Vermont, Montana and California. Oregon was the first state to pass PAS by law on November 4, 1994.

Read More

Pros And Cons Of Physician Assisted Death

2076 Words | 9 Pages

Another big concern has to do with religious beliefs. A lot of family members believe that if a person commits suicide then there are going straight to Hell, which ultimately makes it harder for family members of certain religions to decide what to do. Physician assisted death is a good thing for patient’s that are in an awful amount of constant pain and have no other way of getting

Read More

Physician Assisted Suicide Pros And Cons

1049 Words | 5 Pages

Physician assisted suicide has been a controversial topic in the medical world for centuries. Physician assisted suicide (PAS) is the act in which a doctor provides their terminally ill patients with the knowledge and means to commit suicide. Doctors must inform their patients on the lethal drugs that may be used and the process of the suicide. Physician assisted suicide has been legalized in a few states throughout the United States including Oregon, Montana, Vermont, Washington, and Bernalillo County in New Mexico. Although many families and doctors agree with the idea of physician assisted suicide, even more people disagree with “mercy killing” because it exploits the doctor's hippocratic oath and may violate the constitution.

Read More

The Pros And Cons Of Physician Assisted Suicide

1900 Words | 8 Pages

One in six Americans live in a state where a doctor can legally prescribe a lethal dose of drugs to a patient (Carter). For years, there has been much argument about whether physician-assisted suicide, in which a doctor prescribes a lethal dose of medication to a patient upon their request to end their life, is immoral or morally permissible (Crocker). Many opponents of physician assisted suicide fear the idea that physicians are encouraging those with fatal illness to end their lives, as opposed to encouraging them to fight to improve the quality of their life. Yet, others prefer that there should be emphasis on autonomy and an easier way out for those in financial ruins. According to the statistics from

Read More

The Pros And Cons Of Physician Assisted Suicide

1908 Words | 8 Pages

Historically, assisted suicide was not legal anywhere in the United States, but recently more states are making it legal. According to the different states, assisted suicide is currently legal in Oregon, Washington, and montana. Hawaii, Pennsylvania, and Vermont are also considering allowing the law for physician assisted suicide to become legal in their state (Gordon). Before assisted suicide was a made a law, it was completely illegal for a physician to prescribe a lethal pill to a patient, but as of now, Oregon, Washington, and Montana are the places in the United States that do allow physician assisted suicide.

Read More

Essay On Physician Assisted Suicide

852 Words | 4 Pages

Physician assisted suicide should not be considered murder in the United States because it is

Read More

Essay On Physician Assisted Suicide

462 Words | 2 Pages

Within the United States physician – assisted suicide is legal in four states, and those states are California, Oregon, Washington, and Vermont. Oregon and Washington have some restrictions which are that the terminally ill patient must be at least eighteen years of age, a resident of Oregon or Washington, capable of making and communication health care decision for him or her self, diagnosed with a terminal illness which may result in death with six months, and two physicians must agree. There is also a request timeline in which the patient must orally make the request to a physician, have a fifteen-day waiting period, make another oral request to a physician, have a written request, then finally there is a 48 hour waiting period for the

Read More

Argumentative Essay On Physician Assisted Suicide

2228 Words | 9 Pages

The specificity of the law and the protection of conscience is what makes physician assisted suicide legal and a possible practice in Oregon. If other

Read More

Death With Dignity Argument Essay

937 Words | 4 Pages

As with Oregon, Washington “residents must understand the treatment and the comforting care that is available for them.” (Introduction to The Right to Die: At Issue). Although the choice of assisted suicide has been available for some time, participation in the program hasn’t been staggering. In fact, doctors are writing more prescriptions for the lethal medication than there are people taking the medicine. In Washington there are “50,000 deaths a year and cancer is the second leading cause of death.

Read More

Persuasive Essay On Physician Assisted Suicide

690 Words | 3 Pages

I don't think physician- assisted suicide is right because it can cause suffering for family and friends, Allowing assisted suicide increases teen suicides, and violates the Hippocratic Oath. The right to assisted suicide is a significant topic that concerns people all over the United States. The debates go back and forth about whether a dying patient has the right to die with the assistance of a physician. Some are against it because of religious and moral reasons. Others are for it because of their compassion and respect for dying.

Read More

Assisted Suicide Today Essay

550 Words | 3 Pages

The Death with Dignity Act in 1994 was approved in the state of Oregon. The second state to legalize doctor-assisted suicide was Washington State. (Nordqvist, September 2014)

Read More

More about The Pros And Cons Of Physician Assisted Suicide

Related Topics

Open Document