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A Final Wish of Death

In: Social Issues

Submitted By purlstone
Words 2055
Pages 9
A Final Wish of Death

A final wish of death should be granted when life has come to its last chapter and all that is sought is a peaceful passing. The decision between a physician and terminally ill patient to hasten their death should be accepted and granted. A terminal illness can be described as an incurable disease which will end the life of the sufferer. If death is inevitable, why must we wait for natural causes to occur? Physician-assisted deaths should be legalized in all states so that the terminally ill can request a final act of dignity.

“Physician-assisted death is defined as the physician providing the means for death, most often with a prescription. The patient not the physician will ultimately administer the lethal medication” (Braddock & Tonelli, 1998). If a patient can come to a decision when it is time to stop treatment for their terminal illness, they should also be allowed to choose when to bring death. End of life care has become an equally important issue to physicians as well as the patients. If physician-assisted deaths were permitted in all 50 states, physicians could openly discuss end of life wishes with their patients.

With all the advances in modern medicine, people are living much longer which allows for a higher risk in developing a terminal illness. A few examples of terminal illnesses are cancer, strokes, Alzheimer’s disease, renal failure, and heart failure. With increasing numbers in terminal illnesses more options for end of life decisions need to be available. There comes a crucial point in patient care when the focus will shift from curing the patient to providing acceptable quality of life. Quality of life can be defined as the patient's ability to enjoy normal life activities. The patient will have to make difficult decisions about their final time on this earth. Physicians hope

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