Physician assisted suicide should not be legalized for the simple fact many would give up and take the easy way out. There is currently a pervasive assumption that if assisted suicide and/or voluntary euthanasia (AS/VE) were to legalized, then doctors would take responsibility for making the decision that these interventions were indicated, for prescribing the medication, and (in euthanasia) for administering it .Richard Huxable remarks “that homicide law encompasses various crimes, so prosecutors can choose charges to suit the circumstances. Yet one thing is clear: mercy killing is still killing, equally, murder is murder” Physician assisted suicide is nothing more than cold blooded
Is Assisted Suicide Ethically Justified? Chriss N. Thomas Philosophy of Ethics Dr. John Schmitz February 8, 2012 The choice a terminally ill patient makes should be available to them in the event they no longer want to suffer. According to Dame Jill Macleod Clark, who sits on the Council of Deans of Health, states “those who have cared for terminally ill patients, friends or family know their greatest fears and anxieties are about intractable sufferings, and their desire for a dignified and peaceful death” (2011). When patients who are terminally ill want to hear options the argument has been made that all options are not available because assisted suicide comes with scrutiny and consequences. On the other hand opponents of assisted suicide do not believe this is the only way to secure a good health alternative.
Some of the criticism is part of a larger body of criticism of pathways and guidelines in general. Some critics believe that pathways undermine individualised care and remove the ability of clinicians to make small changes in patient care (Palmer 2008, Rycroft-Malone et al 2008). For more information on this debate, refer to the discussion in Kennedy et al (2009). Some of the criticism of end of life care pathways relates to law and ethics. In particular, critics state that diagnosing death and putting people on end of life care pathways is a form of euthanasia – one newspaper story featured the headline ‘Sentenced to death on the NHS’ (Devlin 2009).
Physician-assisted suicide is the voluntary termination of a person’s 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 patient with a prescription for medication for the patient to use with the primary intention of ending his or her own life. For decades it has been an on going debate whether or not this practice is right legally, morally, and religiously. Does a person have the right to end his or her own life? This will be the topic addressed in this paper.
Claude Noel Yamgueu Prof. Landrus EN102 09/16/2013 Euthanasia Exploratory According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, euthanasia is the act or practice of intentionally ending the life of someone who is very sick or injured in order to prevent any more suffering. The 20th century was a time that saw the development of the modern hospital system, a development that contributed in the emergence of the euthanasia debate. Regardless of whether or not a person is in favor of euthanasia, many people do want a dignified death for themselves and their loved ones. However, the debate encompasses many interesting sides about whether or not humans have the right to die. The three main views of this issue include the pro-euthanasia, the con-euthanasia
Assisted Suicide Is Not Murder Assisted suicide is a very touchy issue but should be allowed for all terminally ill patients. Any person who has been diagnosed terminal should be allowed to end their pain and suffering. The term assisted suicide has several different interpretations. The most widely used and accepted is the intentional hastening of death by a terminally ill patient with assistance from a doctor, relative, or another person. Some people think that the definition should include the words, in order to relieve extreme pain and suffering Most people just want to live and die with dignity.
Since its passage in 1997, 341 individuals have chosen to end their lives under the state of Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act as oppose to painfully living out their final days or months. This is according to the state department’s annual report regarding the Death with Dignity Act. [referred to as DWDA herein] The DWDA allows terminally ill adult residents to obtain and use prescription from their physicians for self-administered, lethal doses of medications. The Oregon Department of Human Services is required by the “Act” to collect information on compliance and to issue an annual report. Oregon’s DWDA is an example of assisted suicide; not to be confused with euthanasia.
The routine practice of physician-assisted suicide raises serious ethical and other concerns (Snyder, 2004). According to ACP-ASIM, legalization of physician assisted suicide would undermine the patient–physician relationship and the trust necessary to sustain it. It would alter the medical profession's role in society and endanger the value our society places on life; especially on the lives of disabled, incompetent, and vulnerable individuals. The Hippocratic Oath is one of the oldest binding documents in history. Its principles are held sacred by doctors, “Treat the sick to the best of one's ability, preserve patient privacy, and teach the secrets of medicine to the next generation” (Hippocratic Oath, n.d.).
Euthanasia Portia Eckert HCA 322 Brian Addis March 31, 2012 Euthanasia Euthanasia is derived from the Greek eu, ’good” and thanatos ,’death” –literally an easy or good death (Encyclopedia of Ethics,2012). It is also defined as “the act or practice of putting to death another person or animal suffering from incurable conditions or diseases, typically in a painless manner.” Euthanasia has been debated for centuries. Is it the right thing to do? Is it a horrible act? Should it be legal?
Debate Paper HAS 3104 April 15, 2012 According to "MedicineNet" (1996-2012), Assisted Suicide is “the deliberate hastening of death by a terminally ill patient with assistance from a doctor, family member, or another individual” (Definition of Assisted suicide). Many of us when we think about assisted suicide go directly to the one person who was most talked about in 1990’s Dr. Jack Kevorkian, it is said that this specific doctor made death his specialty. He became widely known for his “death machine” a device he invented that allowed a user to self-inject an anesthetic and then a lethal dose of potassium chloride. (He called the machine a thanatron, after Thanatos, the figure of death in Greek mythology.) ("Who 2 Biographies", 2011).