Physician Assisted Suicide Research

Physician-assisted suicide should be legal nationwide. As a former hospital employee, I know first-hand that some diseases can cause so much disability and pain that patients want to end their lives because they have had enough. Something dear to me is personal autonomy, a right of all people. If the patient is competent and wants to end their life, and a health care provider is willing to humanely help end that patient's life, then physician-assisted suicide should be legal and be performed, per the individual's wishes.

According to a poll in 2015, 68% of United States residents believe that physician assisted suicide should be legal (“In”). Physician assisted suicide (PAS) gives terminally ill patients a way to end their lives peacefully before they die from whatever terminal illness they have. If physician assisted suicide became legal, many people would be saved from pain and anguish. On top of that, ill people could retain some power and control over their life. And though bringing money into the discussion might be crude, assisted suicide can save millions. Physician assisted suicide should be legal in order to ensure a dignified death for terminally ill patients.

Assisted suicide is the suicide of a terminally- ill patient, achieved by using a prescribed drug from a doctor for that specific purpose. It is legal in only six states in the United States of America including: Oregon, Montana, Washington, Colorado, Vermont, and California. Countries such as Germany, Japan, and Switzerland have legalized assisted suicide in past years. It has been disputed for many years and continues to be a controversial issue whether physicians should be authorized to end an individual’s life with their prescription and if this should be done legally.

In the United States today, only several states legally recognize physician-assisted suicide as an option for families and terminally ill patients hoping to embrace a death with dignity. Although there is a growing movement to promote access to physician-assisted suicide, the topic is still widely regarded as taboo. As of 2016, the states of Washington, Oregon, Vermont, Colorado, New Jersey, and California are the only states to allow full and legal access to physician-assisted suicide. Alongside those states are Montana and New Mexico, which legally offer “aid in dying,” meaning the state allows for physicians to assist in alleviating the longevity of the dying process.

A woman suffering from cancer became the first person known to die under the law on physician-assisted suicide in the state of Oregon when she took a lethal dose of drugs in March, 1998. The Oregon Death with Dignity Act passed a referendum in November, 1997, and it has been the United States ' only law legalizing assisted suicide since then. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, more than 4,000 doctors have approved of the assisted suicide law (cited in "The Anguish of Doctors,” 1996). The law allows terminally ill patients who have been given six months or less to live and wish to hasten their deaths to obtain medication prescribed by two doctors. The most important thing to notice is that this law does not include those who have been on a life support system nor does it include those who have not voluntarily asked physicians to help them commit suicide. The issue of doctor-assisted suicide has been the subject of the heated dispute in recent years. Many people worry that legalizing doctor assisted suicide is irrational and violates the life-saving tradition of medicine. However, physician-assisted suicide should be legalized because it offers terminally ill people an opportunity for a peaceful death and recognized the inadequacy of current medical practice to deal with death.

Physician-assisted suicide is a controversial subject all around the world. Although it is legal in some countries and states, such as the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Oregon, Montana, Washington, and Vermont it is not yet legal in most (Finlay, 2011). People travel from all around the world to these locations to receive information. Physician-assisted suicide is when terminally ill and mentally capable patients perform the final act themselves after being provided with the required means and information. The elemental causes found for physician-assisted suicide include: terminal cancer, mental and behavioral disorders, diseases of the nervous system, disease of the circulatory system, and diseases of the musculoskeletal system

Currently, physician-assisted suicide or death is illegal in all states except Oregon, Vermont, Montana and Washington. Present law in other states express that suicide is not a crime, but assisting in suicide is. Supporters of legislation legalizing assisted suicide claim that the moral right to life should encompass the right to voluntary death. Opponents of assisted suicide claim that society has a moral and civic duty to preserve the lives of innocent persons. There is a slippery slope involving the legalizing assisted suicide. Concern that assisted suicide allowed on the basis of mercy or compassion, can and will lead to the urging of the death for morally unjustifiable reasons is

According to the article “Physician Assisted Suicide Fast Facts,” published in the CNN Wire, physician assisted suicide is only legal in five states. Because it is only legal in five states, it proves that there must be a hefty amount of controversy over the topic. Although many oppose physician assisted suicide, there are many reasons that advocates have supporting why it should be legalized. People have the right to their life, and if they want to end their life, it should be their choice. Physician assisted suicide allows terminally ill patients to end their suffering. Because physician assisted suicide is not harmful, vital organs could be saved and used in transplants for those who are fighting for their life. Through the process of physician

In the medical field there are massive amounts of treatments for various diseases. Some treatments are going to help the patient feel more comfortable; however, some are going to counteract the problem, and others are going to help kill the patient. Physician assisted suicide is defined by medterms.com as “the voluntary termination of one 's own life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician.” Any person wishing to undergo assisted suicide in Oregon must be at least 18 years of age and have a terminal illness. This illness must be within its final stages and leave the patient with less than six months to live.

Should physician-assisted suicide be legal? Physician-assisted suicide should be legalized. People should finally have the choice if they wanted to. It could relieve suffering and help whoever wants to die peacefully. It could help a lot of people in the world. 79% of people say that physician-assisted suicide be legal. However it should not be legalized.

These states include Oregon, New Mexico, Montana, Vermont, and Washington that allow the help of a doctor to take away the life of the patient that decide to end their life and the pain that is causing the patient. For example, pharmacist and doctors instruct the patient how to take the dosage of the prescribed drug. So. if in a case that patient don’t know how to take the drug and need help the patient can do it with the help of a professional health care. Physician assisted suicide is similar to assisted suicide because both are taking the life away, but the main the difference is it may be held or not held responsible of the action. Since most of the states don’t allow this, people actually move to those states that do allow it to end their painful lives and not having to suffer anymore. In the states that do allow it have certain requirements to be met in order to be qualified to take this action and additional requirements. In most states, the law of physician assisted suicide are similar and have the same requirements that need to be adhered. These requirements include, patient must be 18 years or older, resident of that state in which they live in, patient must be capable of doing this action, diagnosed with a terminal disease that is within the months to live. Some states may have other requirements to do this action and the time in which the patient will live. Oregon for

Physician-assisted suicide is a personal, divisive, and greatly debated issue in the United States of America. The contentious nature of physician-assisted suicide makes it ideal to be solved by a national referendum. The American Medical Association defines physician-assisted suicide as “when a physician facilitates a patient’s death by providing the necessary means and/ or information to enable the patient to perform the life ending act.” Only four states in the United States of America have legalized physician-assisted suicide; however, a recent Gallup poll showed that fifty-one percent of Americans supported legalizing physician-assisted suicide. The distinct divisions among the American public on whether or not physician-assisted suicide

In Oregon, as of 2014, the three most frequently mentioned end-of-life concerns were: loss of autonomy (91.4%), decreasing ability to participate in activities that made life enjoyable (86.7%), and loss of dignity (71.4%) (Oregon Health Authority). Physician-assisted suicide is a controversial topic that continues to divide federal and state governments and citizens everywhere around the country and world. In what’s known as “Death With Dignity Laws” that have already been passed in Oregon, Washington, Vermont, and likely California, doctors are able to write prescriptions to patients, who fall within strict guidelines, who wish to end their lives. These laws follow strict guidelines including; a terminal diagnoses with less than six

States would be beneficial to the victims that are the age of 18 or older suffering from a deadly disease of some sort. By the physician providing the suffering victim with a lethal dose of medication, the patient may peacefully drift away, rather than going through pain both mentally and physically. Legalizing assisted suicide all throughout America could eventually lead hospitals, insurance companies, and the Government out of debt because

The legalization of doctor-assisted suicide would eventually come to affect everyone at some point in time whether they are willingly participating in the act or not. If doctor-assisted suicide became legal people as well as their families would gain the choice of either letting them live or letting you die. Limitations would need to be set in place to prevent people with illnesses such as depression or the like to simply be able to walk into the doctors office and asked to be prescribed death. The system should be strictly reserved for those with terminal illnesses that are causing a great deal of pain and suffering among the patient. This concept is similar to what we do with our beloved pets when they become too ill to withstand life anymore. We don’t want to see them