What Is Assisted Suicide?

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.

sit in pain due to their sicknesses. Should these people have to go through all

Physician-assisted suicide can be described as the act of a terminally ill individual obtaining a lethal prescription in order to exercise their right to die with dignity. Though physician-assisted suicide is highly controversial, it is legally practiced in a small number of states within the United States. Much of the controversy surrounding physician-assisted suicide relates to the social, political, and ethical questions and considerations concerning the practice. Regardless

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.

The promotion of physician assisted suicide has sparked a debate throughout the world. From my point of view, assisted suicide is doctors assist patients who could not endure the pain of diseases and are voluntarily given lethal amount of substances resulting in death. However, physician assisted suicide might be considered to be deviant in many countries currently due to the religions, laws and the negative image. Also, the physicians who assist their patients to suicide might be labelled as "killers". For instance, Jack Kevorkian, who was known for successfully assisting more than 130 patients to end their lives, was charged with second degree murder and was

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

Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) has grown into quite a contentious topic over the years. According to Breitbart and Rosenfeld (1), physician-assisted suicide can be defined as “a physician providing medications or advice to enable the patient to end his or her own life.” One may find many articles that are written by physicians, pharmacists, patients, and family of patients who receive PAS; from there, it is possible to gain a better understanding of what PAS is and how it has become a rising issue in the United States. For readers who have not heard about PAS and what it entails, it is important to understand that this is a debatable topic that should be approached lightly and non-aggressively in the United States when factors such as offering terminally ill patients the right to end their suffering, the likelihood of overall healthcare cost to decrease, and the comparison of palliative care to physician-assisted suicide are examined.

Physician-assisted suicide is “the voluntary termination of one's own life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician. Physician-assisted suicide is the practice of providing a competent patient with a prescription for medication for the patient to use with the primary intention of ending his or her own life” (MedicineNet.com, 2004). Many times this ethical issue arises when a terminally-ill patient with and incurable illness, whom is given little time to live, usually less than six-months, has requested a physician’s assistance in terminating one’s life. This practice with the terminally ill is known as euthanasia. Physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia is a controversial topic

Today, most states do not honor the wills of their terminally ill citizens wishing to end their suffering with dignity and compassion. Even with accurate identification of terminal illness prompting legality of some end-of-life directives, most terminal patients must adhere to conventional symptomatic treatments imposing slow physical and mental deterioration without regard to other feasible options. Information garnered from the experience of Oregon’s legalization of physician assisted suicide illuminates the feasibility of this end-of-life option. Physician assisted suicide is beneficial for terminal patients choosing to circumvent imminent mental and physical indignities; therefore this end-of-life option should be legally executable devoid of prosecution.

Physician assisted death is a practice that is offered to patients with terminal illnesses with a prognosis of less than six months to live. A doctor prescribes the patient a medication that will eventually end their life. Two physicians must confirm the patient’s diagnosis as well as their life expectancy. A scientific understanding must be attained first before any decisions regarding the patient’s condition or the possibility of physician assisted death. The patient must be in a terminal and critical condition with no hope of making any recovery. This condition is determined by a healthcare team and a prognosis is not made until all other options have been exhausted. It is mandated by state law in Oregon, Vermont, and Washington as well as permitted

Many patients consider assisted suicide as an effective alternative solution. Since 1994, patients with a terminal illness within four states including California have a legal right to end life on their own terms in a human and dignifying way with the help in the form of physician – assisted suicide for the purpose of avoiding agonizing suffering if as individuals in society truly own ourselves. Patients who are physically able to swallow the medication in the form of a pill, are prescribed lethal drugs. Unlike Euthanasia, which is in a form of lethal injection that is not legal in the United States, lethal injections are administered by a physician with or without a patient’s consent (Green, "Physician-Assisted Suicide Laws by State), whereas physician – assisted suicide is only given to patients with a terminal diagnosis that is administered themselves privately whenever they choose and can only be prescribed. Physician – assisted suicide is seen as an affordable option for those who cannot afford medical bills, medication or hospice. Though there are states that allow a patient to die with dignity and expresses freedom of choice These same laws that are banned in other states which also argue that states who does not allow physician – assisted suicide violates the rights of the

In physician assisted suicide, the physician provides the necessary means to end a patient’s life, but the patient themselves performs the act of ending their life. Using this method, a prescription of a lethal dose of barbiturates is written from the physician to the patient that requested and went through the steps necessary to end their life. The debate to legalize physician assisted suicide to end a persons life has been debated whether it is ethical or not for quite some time. Aside from legal issues, religious beliefs also play a big part in opposition. Many different religious groups oppose this method because it is against their religion.

Physician-assisted suicide enables terminally ill patients to die comfortably and peacefully in their own homes. Terminally ill patients suffer through constant pain in their final months, and there remains a “residual obligation to relieve suffering” when palliative and hospice care reach a stagnant point (Quill). Patients will reach a point where the value of life weighs against the consistent suffering they endure on daily basis. Those seeking physician assisted suicide maintain the ability to forcibly starve themselves by declining food and drink. It takes more energy for terminally ill patients to push themselves to

Physician-assisted suicide is a form of assisted suicide in the United States, in which the physicians prescribe lethal doses of drugs or explaining a method of suicide to the patients upon the request of the patients. Physician-assisted suicide is different from the active euthanasia, which refers to competent patients voluntarily agree to euthanasia through communicating their wishes when they are competent or through instructions to be followed if they become incompetent because the final act of killing is performed by the patients, rather than the physicians in the active euthanasia. To date, physician-assisted suicide is only legal in eight states, including California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Montana, Oregon, Vermont and

Assisted suicide is the act of deliberately assisting or encouraging another person to kill themselves ("Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide ," 2014). When talking about assisted suicide there are two types: Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS) and Euthanasia. Although they both have very similar goals but, they differ in which role the physician has in the action that finally ends life. Euthanasia can be defined as “the act of bringing about the death of a hopelessly ill and suffering person in a relatively quick and painless way for reasons of mercy” ("Physician-Assisted Suicide - Introduction," n.d.). Thus meaning that during euthanasia the physician performs the intervention by either injecting the patient with a large dose of medication, or completely withholding or withdrawing treatment that is necessary to maintain life("Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide ," 2014). Physician-assisted suicide can be defined as “the practice of providing a competent patient with a prescription for medication for the patient to use with the primary intention of ending his or her own life” ("Physician-assisted Suicide," 2012). This means that the physician provides the necessary means or information to complete the intervention but the patient performs the act themselves ("Physician-Assisted Suicide - Introduction," n.d.). Throughout this paper I will be examining both facts and issues surrounding assisted suicide.