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Physician Assisted Suicide Thesis Statement

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Research Paper Topic and Thesis
Terminally ill patients’ requests for physician-assisted suicide are now a viable possibility. Knowing the pathways to answering to those patients, as their requests for assisted death persist, is upmost importance. As of June, 9th 2016 California became the fifth state to allow physician-assisted suicide. The California’s End of Life Option Act authorizes any individual 18 years of age or older, who has been diagnosed as terminally ill and fits specific criteria, to solicit administration of assisted dying drugs at the hands of his/her attending physician. This Act will require specific documentation and data to be submitted to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) by the attending physician …show more content…

While Oregon ranks among the best states in the provisions of excellence of palliative care in 2015 California received a “B” which revealed an opportunity for improvement (Petrillo, Dzeng, & Smith, 2016, p. 828).
The study also showed that for-profit, small and community hospitals had very limited accessibility to palliative care; and the higher request for physician assisted death came from outpatient facilities. It has been noted that palliative care practices are extremely low nationwide. Neither primary care physicians nor specialists who treat terminally ill patients routinely are provided with palliative care training. These are important facts since statistics show that although most individuals support the option for a physician-assisted suicide the low numbers of actual requests for assisted death reflected the preference of alternative treatment options. As patients regain the power of making decisions regarding their care, aggressive pain control measures are put in place; consideration of physician-assisted suicide becomes an avoidable option for a dignified death. Regardless of the views on physician-assisted death healthcare professional

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