Doctor assisted suicide has been a controversial topic for decades. It is placing value on life and death. This paper examines doctor assisted suicide by using peer reviewed articles that address many of the social and political issues surrounding doctor assisted suicide, including key factors such as the roles that technology and family play in a patient 's decision to use assisted suicide. Brody (1995) gives an in depth view of how doctor assisted suicide works. Emanuel (1997) takes a closer look into the parameters that must be present to qualify for doctor assisted suicide.
ASSISTED SUICIDE, MERCY OR MURDER?
As pet owners of a thirteen year old dog, my husband and I face a difficult decision moving forward. It is our responsibility
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The patient 's death is caused by a mechanism which the patient could not attain on his or her own (Brody, 1995).
How is doctor assisted suicide preformed? Once a patient has decided that doctor assisted suicide is the best option for them their doctor will prescribe life ending medication. Most patients have received a prescription for an oral dosage of a barbiturate (pentobarbital or secobarbital), and beginning in 2015, a phenobarbital/chloral hydrate/morphine sulfate/ethanol mix has also been used (Parrot, n.d.).
The laws in each state vary, but in some of the states the patient can take the pills wherever they choose, but the law advises the doctor to ask the patient to not take the medication in a public place. Most of the time the medication is taken at the patient 's home. According to Dr. Carol Parrot, the medication should be taken in the state prescribed, otherwise the death may be ruled as a suicide.
Who does the final action to cause the death? Many people believe that it is the doctor that initiates the final action, but that is not true. Brody’s (1995) states that the doctor must be with the patient at the time of death to setup and control the mechanism of death. The absolute final action to cause death is done by the patient. Even though the final action which "throws the switch" is the patient 's and not the
Physician- assisted suicide was first popularized in 1997 by the Oregon Death with Dignity Act (ODDA) . This act states that a physician has the power to prescribe a lethal amount of medication to terminally ill patients. However, the patients must have the knowledge of upcoming death. In order to receive the medication the patient must, be over eighteen years of age, a resident of Oregon, and must orally ask for the prescription twice. The oral requests must be fifteen days apart. The patient's physician and a consulting physician must agree that the patient is mentally capable of making such a
Who gets to make the choice whether someone lives or dies? If a person has the right to live, they certainly should be able to make the choice to end their own life. The law protects each and everyone’s right to live, but when a person tries to kill themselves more than likely they will end up in a Psychiatric unit. Today we hear more and more about the debate of Physician assisted suicide and where this topic stands morally and ethically. Webster 's dictionary defines Physician assisted suicide as, 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 who is aware of the patient 's intent (Webster, 1977).
Physician-assisted suicide is controversial in healthcare and political realms alike. Currently, this end-of-life option is practiced in five states within the United States. Social concerns regarding assisted suicide revolve around ethical quandaries; providing the means to a patient’s death is contradictory to ethical principles of healthcare providers. Political concerns surrounding the legalization of assisted suicide include disparities in healthcare that may lead to certain populations choosing assisted suicide and the stagnation of current care options. While there is no succinct manner in which to declare assisted suicide right or wrong, each individual must address the social and political concerns surrounding the issue when voting for legislation to legalize assisted suicide or pursuing the option for themselves.
The patient must be at least 18 years of age, a legal resident of Oregon, capable of making and effectively communicating health care decisions, and diagnosed with an illness deemed terminal that will result in death within six months. In order to receive the prescribed medication, the patient must make two oral request to a physician for a lethal medication dose, at least 15 days apart, and provide a written request – signed in front of two witnesses – to an attending physician, the primary doctor responsible for the patient's care and treatment of the terminal illness (Fass, 846). When Oregon's DWDA first became effective in 1997, physicians were not required to inform pharmacists of the purpose of a lethal medication dose. The statute was amended in 1999 to require a pharmacist be informed of the lethal dose of medication's intended use in advance. (Fass, 848)
A patient must meet the requirements in order to qualify for physician assisted suicide. The patient must be “diagnosed with a terminal illness that will lead to death within six months” (Fass, and Fass 846). Being a legal resident of a state that has legalized the procedure and being eighteen years old are also requirements. Another qualification is being able to make and communicate health care decisions. Along with those requirements, there are certain guidelines that must be followed during the process of physician assisted suicide. First, the patient must make two oral requests for physician assisted suicide at least fifteen days apart. A written request that has to be signed in front of two witnesses must also be provided to the physician. The patient then has to be referred to a consulting physician, so that he can confirm the diagnosis and prognosis and approve that the patient is capable of making decisions related to health care. “The prescribing physician must notify the patient of alternatives to suicide, including comfort care, hospice care, and pain management” (Fass, and Fass 846). It is expected of the physician to encourage the patient to tell their family. The physician has to follow rules to dispense the medication after these steps. One rule is to be registered as a dispensing practitioner and maintaining a current Drug Enforcement Administration certificate in order
What is physician-assisted suicide? “Suicide is the act of taking one's own life. In assisted suicide, the means to end a patient’s life is provided to the patient (i.e. medication or a weapon) with knowledge of the patient's intention” (American Nurses Association). Physician-assisted suicide is known by many names such as death with dignity, right to die, and of course, euthanasia. Euthanasia is a much more in-depth term concerning the patient and the type of suicide.
1. (problem – PAS): In today’s society, Physician Assisted Suicide is one of the most questionable and debatable issues. Many people feel that it is wrong for people to ask their doctor to help them end their life; while others feel it is their right to choose between the right to life and the right to death. “Suffering has always been a part of human existence.” (PAS) “Physicians have no similar duty to provide actions, such as assistance in suicide, simply because they have been requested by patients. In deciding how to respond to patients ' requests, physicians should use their judgment about the medical appropriateness of the request.” (Bernat, JL) Physician Assisted Suicide differs from withholding or discontinuing medical treatment, it consists of doctors providing a competent patient with a prescription for medication to aid in the use to end their life.
Very often, deliberate decisions are made which results in the end of a life. For example, a person could be kept on life support, but instead, a family member or other significant person might choose to switch off the life support machine resulting in the official death of a patient. There is also the case that resuscitation of a patient may eventually prove to be trivial and a doctor might suggest just making the patient as comfortable as possible until their eventual passing. In the above situations, a medical professional’s decisions would not be questioned or doubted. It is conventional practice (Warnock and MacDonald 2008).
With self-interest, patients inquire a legal doctor about their privilege of a controlled death by oral medication. Physician-Assisted Suicides allow “a competent adult resident of the state to obtain a prescription from a physician for a lethal dose of medication, for the purpose of causing death through self-administration” (Ganzini 77). Aid in dying is a term commonly used for physician-assisted suicide. In other words, Physician-Assisted Suicides permit terminal patients and physicians to work together to accommodate a licit planned death. Furthermore, with the permission of AID, “a physician writes a prescription for the life-ending medication for a terminally ill, mentally capacitated” (Orentlicher, Pope, and Rich
Patient assisted suicide, death with dignity, euthanasia or patient assisted death; whichever one that is used, they all mean the same tragic thing. The life of another human being is more than what comes to eye. For years now, everyone has been arguing whether physicians have the right to assist with patient assisted death. The man who started this epidemic was known as Dr. Jack Kevorkian. Kevorkian was a pathologist who assisted the acute and critically ill with ending his or her life. After Kevorkian spent years battling the legality of his actions with the courts, he ended up spending eight years in prison. Today, there are only 7 locations that allow physicians to do this: Oregon, Washington, Vermont, California, Montana, Colorado, and Washington DC. At the start of this whole situation, doctors would attempt to use very high dosages of analgesic, pain relieving medication, to end a patients life; however, that ended very quickly. Shortly after that time, doctors would use the same drugs administered for lethal injections. Typically a three step process: the first shot induces unconsciousness, the second shot causes muscle paralysis and respiratory arrest, and the final shot causes cardiac arrest, which ceases heart contractions. Currently, doctors use a drug called
New issues and ethical questions have arisen as a result in technological advances in the field of medicine. One of these issues is quality of life for the individual. Is it better to keep a person hooked up to a life machine, if the person has no quality of life? That is there is no interaction with other humans and the person is only being kept alive because the machines are handling vital bodily functions. These advances add to moral dilemma of physician-assisted suicide and to the intense debate if the practice of physician-assisted death is ethical. Furthermore, there are direct and indirect physician-assisted suicide practices. Direct physician-assisted suicide practices include: administering a legal dose of drugs to end a life, withdrawing or withholding life sustaining treatments, and palliative sedation. Indirect physician-assisted suicides are a little bit different in that the physician may give
Physician-assisted suicide is defined as the practice where a physician provides a patient with a lethal dose of medication, upon the patient's request, which the patient desires to use to end his or her life. The Harvard Medical School conferred that we are "dead" when there is permanent loss of consciousness in the higher brain, even though one may not be flat lined.
Assisted suicide is one of the most controversial topics discussed among people every day. Everyone has his or her own opinion on this topic. This is a socially debated topic that above all else involves someone making a choice, whether it be to continue with life or give up hope and die. This should be a choice that they make themselves. However, In the United States, The land of the free, only one state has legalized assisted suicide. I am for assisted suicide and euthanasia. This paper will support my many feelings on this subject.
The medication can be given or prescribed by the physician or nurse practitioner, being self-administered to cause death (medically assisted suicide), or directly administered, such as an injection of a drug (voluntary euthanasia).2
This type of euthanasia is practiced on persistent vegetative patients who cannot speak for themselves, but who have said in the past that they would not have wanted to live that way.