Physician Assisted Suicide For Terminally Ill Patients

The word suicide gives many people negative feelings and is a socially taboo subject. However, suicide might be beneficial to terminally ill patients. Physician- assisted suicide has been one of the most controversial modern topics. Many wonder if it is morally correct to put a terminally ill patient out of their misery. Physicians should be able to meet the requests of their terminally ill patients. Unfortunately, a physician can be doing more harm by keeping someone alive instead of letting them die peacefully. For example, an assisted suicide can bring comfort to patients. These patients are in excruciating pain and will eventually perish. The government should not be involved in such a personal decision. A physician- assisted suicide comes with many benefits for the patient. If a person is terminally ill and wants a physician assisted suicide, then they should receive one.

Imagine laying in a hospital bed living everyday in extreme pain with no hope of getting better. This scenario explains what many people go through everyday, which is a living with a terminal illness. M. Lee, a science historian, and Alexander Stingl a sociologist, define terminal illness as “an illness from which the patient is not expected to recover even with treatment. As the illness progresses death is inevitable” (1). There are not many options for the terminally ill besides dying a slow and painful death, but assisted suicide could be best option for these patients. Assisted suicide is “any case in which a doctor gives a patient (usually someone with a terminal illness) the means to carry out their own suicide by using a lethal dose of medication” (Lee and Stingl 1). Some feel that assisted suicide is unnecessary because it is too great of a controversy and will only cause problems in society. However, assisted suicide should be legal in the United States as long as there are strict regulations to accompany it.

Abstract: This paper discusses the medical ethics of Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS). Focusing on the ideas of legal vs illegal, the different views of PAS will both be addressed. While active euthanasia is illegal, passive euthanasia, or allowing natural death, is completely legal everywhere. PAS will help patients end suffering for themselves at the end of their lives, as well as the family's. The price of the drug may be expensive but the price of medical treatments continues to rise. The Hippocratic Oath does not support the aid in ending a life, however it has been changed in the past. Many citizens are afraid that is PAS was considered legal, it would grow into something even more illegal being debated. Also, the religious aspect of the end of life had conflicting views as some believe PAS is ending suffering, a good deed, and other believe PAS is not respecting a human life. PAS is only legal in seven states but has gained the attention of many others and other places around the world.

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.

According to Paul J. van der Wal et al. in ¨Euthanasia, Physician-Assisted Suicide, and Other Medical Practices Involving the End of Life in the Netherlands, 1990–1995¨, he addresses that assisted suicide should be legal and regulated. The authors’ purpose of writing this journal article is to make reliable estimates of euthanasia; to describe patients and physicians, and to evaluate changes between 1990 and 1995. Even though assisted suicide is a growing taboo, it is being practiced more each and every day. Paul J. van der Wal et al. chose to conduct two studies to answer their hypotheses.

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.

According to studies 9% of deaths in the Netherlands in 1990 were a result of physician assisted suicide. The practice is fully legal and commonly practiced. It is also legal for infants and

The healthcare system is complex with nearly every decision made posing an ethical dilemma for patients, providers, and healthcare leaders. With an influx of new medical knowledge from evidence based practices and new technologies more decisions are being made available to patients and families. Terminally ill patients for instance are faced with numerous options when it comes to treatment including whether or not they end their life by terminating treatment altogether or seek controversial options such as Physician’s Assisted Suicide. The topic of Physician’s Assisted Suicide or (PAS) is very intricate with numerous pros and cons, moral ethics, and ways to address the issue within the healthcare practice.

The process of assisted suicide, or physician-assisted death, is a hotly debated topic that still remains at the forefront of many national discussions today. Assisted suicide can be described as the suicide of patient by a physician-prescribed dose of legal drugs. The reason that this topic is so widely debated is that it infringes on several moral and religious values that many people in the United States have. But, regardless of the way that people feel, a person’s right to live is guaranteed to them in the United States Constitution, and this should extend to the right to end their own life as well. The reasons that assisted suicide should be legalized in all states is because it can ease not only the suffering of the individual, but the financial burden on the family that is supporting him/her. Regardless of opposing claims, assisted suicide should be an option for all terminally ill patients.

Thesis: When it comes to the topic of physician-assisted suicide (PAS), some experts believe that an individual should have the option of ending their life in the event that they have been given six months to live with a terminal illness or when the quality of their life has been vastly changed. Where this argument usually ends, however, is on the question whether physician-assisted suicide is medically ethical, would be overly abused to the point where doctors might start killing patients without their consent. Whereas some experts are convinced that just improving palliative care would decrease the need for someone to want to end their life before it happened naturally.

The war between life and death will never cease to exist. The reality is that no one can stop this never-ending cycle, many terminally ill patients know this all too well. As time goes on, technology expands, so does the understanding of death itself. For over a decade, there have been several articles produced that focus on the ethical and legal issues that arise with this specific topic. In 1997, the Supreme Court ruled that there is neither a constitutional right nor a constitutional prohibition of assisted suicide. This ruling allowed for Oregon state to begin to “experimenting” with the legalization. Though, the majority of states continue to stand firmly behind their decision on the legalization of assisted suicide. On one hand, people find this issue to be unethical, that assisted suicide only exterminates the possibility of recovery. On the other hand, people believe that patients who have fought long and hard for survival should be able to decide whether or not they wish to continue their life. So the question stands; Should patients be given the option to end their own life with a physician 's assistance, or should it be deemed illegal in all states?

“Americans are not entirely averse to suicide in cases of terminal illness. Currently six in ten Americans believe that a person has a right to end his or her own life if that person has an incurable disease” (Benson 267). It is obvious that most Americans can agree that assisted suicide is the final decision of the terminally ill patient. When it comes down to it, many terminal patients cannot make this decision, because they may live within a state where assisted suicide is illegal. So far, only seven states have made assisted suicide legal and one state has legal physician suicide by court ruling, while the rest still considers assisted suicide illegal. Even though some people do not approve of assisted suicide because of moral or ethical

Death is not fair. Some see death as an enemy to defeat, others as a friend to welcome. Some die young, others with long life expectancy. Some die quickly and violently, others slowly but peacefully. Some die naturally without pain. Other, especially people with incurable illnesses, such as cancer or AIDS, die by inches in great sufferings. Even though medical treatment and palliative care are advancing at a fast speed, they are often not available or not effective enough for those terminally ill patients. Besides devastating pain, what is the worst is losing control of one’s life and having to wait for death in despair and indignity. As a result, an increasing number of dying patients want more control over the timing and manner of their deaths and want to have the option of a humane, peaceful death. A substantial majority of citizens believe that competent, terminally ill patients should have the option of receiving medication that patients could self-administer to bring about a humane and peaceful death if pain and suffering become intolerable, and a majority of physicians believe such patients should have this option (Tucker). Over the past two decades, both professionals and citizens have shown a markedly favorable shift towards the legalization of physician-assisted suicide. Yet the translation of that endorsement into a feasible legislation process has not followed that pace.

Euthanasia is typically undertaken when an extremely sick person has lost the will to live and is terminated to alleviate them from their suffering. The idea of physician assisted suicide has sparked a debate on the ethical, economical, and social consideration of the act. As we approach a time where physician assisted suicide becomes more and more politically and ethically charged, lawmakers, physicians, and the public alike need to understand autonomy and respect the natural functionings of the human body, even if the patient or the family of the patient asks for euthanasia. Therefore, due to ethical and economical considerations, euthanasia should be outlawed throughout the United States.

Have you ever thought about what you would do if you became diagnosed with a terminal illness that changed your life completely? There are many choices in the world that one could make, such as seeking physician-assisted suicide or deciding to live with a terminal illness. It is not everyday a person sits around and think about what they would do if an illness became unbearable to them. One could agree with Diane Coleman’s article “Doctor-Assisted Suicide Should Not Be an Option” or one could agree with Kathryn Tucker’s article “People Should Be Allowed To Choose Doctor-Assisted Suicide.” To better understand the authors’ opposing positions concerning physician-assisted suicide, one must examine their differing views on the reasons for