What Is Physician Assisted Suicide?

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

Suicide is one person’s personal decision; physician-assisted suicide is a patient who is not capable of carrying the task out themselves asking a physician for access to lethal medication. What people may fail to see however is that the physician is not the only healthcare personnel involved; it may include, but is not limited to, a physician, nurse, and pharmacist. This may conflict with the healthcare worker’s own morals and there are cases in which the patient suffers from depression, or the patient is not receiving proper palliative care. Allowing physician-assisted suicide causes the physician to become entangled in an ethical and moral discrepancy and has too many other issues surrounding it for it to be legal.

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.

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

Although controversial, physician-assisted suicide laws affect thousands of people across the country annually. Physician-assisted suicide is the process in which a doctor prescribes a lethal dose of medication, usually painkillers or sedatives, to a patient to end their own life (Euthanasia Glossary, 1999; United States, n.d.). In many states in which physician-assisted suicide is legal, the patient must be at least eighteen years old, terminally ill and have

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

Physician-assisted suicide is when a terminally ill patient requested a physician to facilitate the patient death by providing the necessary lethal dose of a drug which enables the patient to perform the life-ending act. Provided that, Physician assisted suicide has been part of the debate about improving end-of-life care for terminally ill patients for decades. As a result, physician assisted suicide may be viewed morally wrong by some people, but morally permissible by another.

Physician-assisted suicide is a very controversial topic in the medical field. It is a topic that has been debated over for years. Webster’s dictionary defines this terms 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 aware of the patient’s intent” (Merriam-Webster). In other words, it is a way that when a patient is ill, they can commit suicide with the help of a physician. This practice is legal in some states in the United States and in many countries around the world. This topic is so controversial because people disagree on whether it is ethical to help someone end another person’s life. There are many people that advocate this and there are also many people that disagree with helping someone commit suicide.

Physician assisted suicide is a highly discussed topic in the medical world. Whether it should be legal or not is debated among medical professionals. There are multiple reasons someone may consider PAS (physician assisted suicide), but very few are actually granted the right to end their life with the help of a doctor. Physician assisted suicide, a well concerning and serious topic, is drastically debated in a vast amount of countries worldwide.

"Only because I knew that I could not and would not kill my patients was I able to enter most fully and intimately into caring for them as they lay dying (Doerflinger, Richard M., M.D, and Carlos F. Gomez, Ph.D). In this quote given by a physician, one sees that even from a professional’s standpoint on physician-assisted suicide, one is opposed to that act of helping someone to take his or her own life. When given the opportunity, this physician would rather help to improve the life of the patient rather than ending a life that does not need to end and that is the viewpoint that all should take on this controversial topic. Throughout this paper, one will see just how affected people are by the repercussions

Physician assisted suicide, a method legal is some states and countries, is a way for people under certain conditions to be prescribed a death inducing drug. Campaigners of assisted suicide claim that physician assisted suicide should be legal and available to those that meet certain requirements because it is an easy way to end someone’s struggles and pains with terminal illness. However, I think it should not be legal. Between the fact that a person is a person and deserves a life and opportunity, the business of killing will always have loopholes and problems, it is a doctor’s responsibility to make sure the patient lives, and the fact that this could desensitize the public of death.

“Physician-assisted suicide differs from euthanasia, which is defined as the act of assisting people with their death in order to end their suffering, but without the backing of a controlling legal authority.” 2 Physician-assisted suicide gives the legal authority to a physician who can prvide a patient with a lif ending dose of pills. A terminally ill patient first makes the decision to end their life. After required documentation, a doctor will administer a lethal dose of pills, and the patient is able to take them and end their life at the time that they see fit. This practice is currently legal in 6 states; Washington, Oregon, California, Vermont, Montana, and

Physician-assisted suicide is a very controversial topic. Many people feel very strongly about letting people have free will and others feel very strongly about showing these people compassion instead of the help of ending their life (Cable News Network (CNN) 2015). Currently the United States has three states that legalized physician assisted suicide. These three states include Oregon, Washington, and Vermont (Cable News Network (CNN) 2015). All three of these states allow a competent adult who has a terminal illness to choose to end their life with the help of a physician (Death with Dignirty National Center 2015). The people who qualify for this must have at least six months or less to live (Cable News Network (CNN) 2015).

Physician assisted suicide is also known as assisted suicide. It is a very controversial procedure. It is not favored by many. However, in present day society is little bit inclined towards assisted suicide. There is ongoing debate on the legalization of assisted suicide. The main reason to oppose of assisted suicide is the fear of mistreatment of the patient, abuse of power and so on. In contrary, many see assisted suicide as a way to decrease pain in the end of life.

Physician assisted suicide is requested by the terminally ill, typically when the pain from the illness is too much to handle and is not manageable through treatments or other medications. Assisted suicide is more of a broad term for helping someone die a good death, physician assisted suicide is where a medical doctor provides information and medication and the patient then administers the medications themselves. Euthanasia is also another term that is commonly heard, this refers to a medical doctor that voluntarily administers the lethal dose of medication to the patient when the patient requests it, due to not physically being able to do it themselves (Humphry, 2006). There pros and cons with this topic throughout the world, but is one of the biggest debated things here in the United States of America and to this day there are only five states that have legalized physician-assisted suicide (ProCon.org, 2015). The government should allow patients that are terminally ill the right to choose physician assisted suicide, why should they have to suffer when there is a way out.