HRC paper #3
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Arizona State University *
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43115
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Philosophy
Date
Dec 6, 2023
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6
Uploaded by SargentWater36739
Reflection Paper #3
Emily R. Snyder
HRC 210: Ethics Healthcare Professional
Dr.Caitlyn Zang
July 23, 2023
Physician-assisted Suicide
What is physician-assisted suicide? Physician-assisted suicide, a physician provides the
necessary means or information on death, and the patient performs the act. Euthanasia is when a
physician performs the intervention. Euthanasia is “bringing about the death of a hopelessly ill
and suffering person in a relatively quick and painless way for reasons of mercy.” (Data-Driven
Learning Guide, n.d.)
Human suffering has always existed; the idea of ending suffering by death
through physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia has arisen since the beginning of medicine in
1870 (Emanuel, 1994). At least once in a physician's medical profession will receive a request
for assisted suicide. Based on a recent study, 57% of physicians practicing today have received a
request for physician-assisted suicide (Lawatsch, 2022).
While there are multiple alternatives to physician-assisted suicide, and unrelieved
physical suffering may have been at a higher rate, modern medicine now has much more
knowledge and skills to alleviate forms of grief than in the past. Modern specialists in palliative
care believe that if patients had access to more of a more thorough evaluation, optimal symptom
control, and supportive care, the suffering of many patients with life-threatening illnesses may be
reduced remarkably and eliminate the desire for accelerated death. When the passion continues,
another approach other than physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia is available to ease suffering
and avoid prolonging life against a patient’s wishes.
Reflection
When a patient asks for help from a doctor to end their pain, some could say that the
patient is selfish, and some could say that it is wrong to try and take the easy way out of life. If a
patient is suffering from misery and pain and understands that their life is short-lived, then that
decision from the patient should be held. People should have every right to do what they want
with their life. If the patient understands that their life will be short-lived and they are in pain,
they should not have to spend the last of their life in a hospital. If an individual decides they do
not want to suffer from pain and agony, asks their doctor for guidance, and agrees to pursue it,
the doctor should not be held accountable for helping the patient parish. This is where physician-
assisted suicide comes in. In Brittany’s case, she was diagnosed with stage three brain cancer;
when she was diagnosed, she was given three years to live, but after surgery, her doctors realized
her brain cancer had progressed to stage four. Once receiving the news, Brittany decided to leave
California and move to Oregon with her husband because the State of Oregon allows patients to
request medication to end their life.
Ethical principles
Physician-assisted suicide is a virtue ethic the reasoning behind this would be that (virtue
ethics is distinct from utilitarianism and deontology. Rather than focusing on the consequences of
the act we wish to evaluate, the reason or rule that guides the action, we look at the character of
the person performing the act. Virtue ethics, thus, seeks to determine not what makes a show
suitable but what makes a person virtuous.) (Jordan, 2017). Another ethical principle involved in
this case is Autonomy which is “the capacity to have the say-so about your well-being”
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