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The Pros And Cons Of Physician Assisted Suicide

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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

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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.

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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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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.

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Physician assisted suicide is currently legal in five U.S. states with fifteen more states reviewing it within the next year making it an important topic to look at morally and ethically. Physician assisted suicide is the act of an individual killing themselves with the help of a physician, usually by taking a lethal dose of a drug. It is important to point out that the patient first has to request it and they complete the ultimate act. This differs from euthanasia where the physician is the one who ultimately causes the death. Physician assisted suicide is requested because the patient is enduring tremendous pain and suffering which can only be ended with their death (Vaughn 293).

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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.

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Physician assisted death, more commonly known as physician assisted suicide, is the act of intentionally killing oneself through the use of drugs prescribed by a doctor. Something that is similar to physician assisted death is euthanasia, which is illegal in the United States, but legal in other countries. I feel that physician assisted death should be legalized in all fifty states because it is a person ’s right to choose, a way to end their suffering, and way for terminally ill patients to end their life with respect and dignity. Jack Kevorkian was a physician in Michigan who supported a patient’s wish for assisted suicide.

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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.

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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

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

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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

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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

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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.

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Over time, there has always been a debate whether assisted suicide should be allowed into society. Physician assisted suicide can be looked at as an advantage, but it can also be viewed as a negative thing. Assisted suicide is only performed by a physician when the patient is terminally ill, and only if the patient is willing to be assisted in suicide. This procedure is used with lethal doses of drugs prescribed by a physician. Since physician assisted suicide is very risky, there are a lot of precautions to be taken.

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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)

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When assisted suicide is spoken of, there are many definitions to it. First there 's doctor-assisted suicide. This means that a qualified medical doctor uses lethal injections to a terminally ill patient to end his/her own life. Second there is Euthanasia. This is the act of ending the life of a hopelessly suffering

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