...Physician Assisted Suicide Lawmakers in Connecticut are again taking up the issue of physician-assisted suicide. A physician-assisted suicide bill in Connecticut is up for its first legislative hearing before the General Assembly’s Public Health Committee. With this bill two physicians would have to certify, in writing, under oath, that their patient is terminally ill and is likely to die within the next six months. Additionally, the patient must be mentally competent to make an informed decision about his or her own death. A similar bill was proposed in 2009. Perhaps the strongest argument made on behalf of legalizing euthanasia or assisted suicide is that it, like abortion, is a "choice" issue. Supporters dispute that euthanasia/assisted suicide is the ultimate civil right, and to deprive mentally competent, terminally ill people who want to end their suffering is to disrespect their rights. Supporters also argue that legalizing euthanasia/assisted suicide ensures that no one dies in painful agony or suffering. Opposes contend that laws against euthanasia and assisted suicide are in place to prevent abuse and to protect people from unscrupulous doctors and others. Proponents also claim that opposition to euthanasia/assisted suicide is based primarily in religion and that laws prohibiting the practice are thus unconstitutional because they violate the division between church and state. We all die; however, in an age of amplified longevity and medical advances, death...
Words: 308 - Pages: 2
...unpleasant, the patient should have the right to reduce this unpleasantness. In medicine, the prolongation of living may sometimes turn into the prolongation of dying. Put simply - why should be patient be forced to experience a slow death? Most physicians have received one or more requests to help a patient end his or her life prematurely. This module focuses on the skills that the physician can use to respond both compassionately and with confidence to a request, not on the merits of arguments for or against legalizing physician-assisted suicide (PAS) or euthanasia, but using solid clinical skills. To respond effectively, physicians must know the reasons why patients ask for assistance. Depression, psychosocial factors, and anticipated distress are common reasons, but current physical suffering can also be a factor. Physicians need to be able to assess the root causes of the specific request, make a commitment to the patient’s care, address each of the patient’s sources of suffering, educate the patient about legal alternatives, and seek counsel from colleagues. The vast majority of requests for PAS or euthanasia should abate when approached in this way. Oregon The state of Oregon has had a physician-assisted suicide law since 1994 which was implemented in 1998. Since then more than 341 terminally ill people have taken...
Words: 2055 - Pages: 9
...Physician Assisted Suicide Physician assisted suicide is a very controversial subject in today's society. Physician assisted suicide is when one voluntarily makes the decision to end life due to a terminal illness. In my opinion, physician assisted suicide is not ethical because; many people feel taking of a life is morally wrong, it shows no respect for humanity, and it takes ones dignity away. Physician assisted suicide and Euthanasia exist and neither are morally correct. Nothing about ending one's life is ethically right. An act as such would be considered an act od virtue ethics. "Virtue ethics is distinct from both utilitarianism and deontology. Rather than focusing on the consequences of the act we wish to evaluate or the rule that guides the action, we look at the character of the person performing the act."(Mosser, 2010) Each having the same outcome but still different, physician assisted suicide is when a physician gives the patient means to commit suicide but not administering it personally.Euthanasia is a lethal dosage of medicine administered by a physician. (Gula,1999a) This process is called death by mercy but some see it as murder. Death is a natural part of living. Death is something that occurs somewhere every second of the day, it should be from natural cause or accidental never should it be doctor promoted . When people become ill it is the physician they put trust in for the care they need to survive...
Words: 2263 - Pages: 10
...Affecting Physician-Assisted Suicide Thousands of people in the United States alone die every year from terminal illnesses. Medical technology is responsible for keeping many people alive; however some people are alive against their will. This paper recognizes the various events and people that are affected by physician-assisted suicide. While some terminally ill patients feel there is no reason for them to live and cause pain for not only themselves but also others, there are still people out there who disagree because they find that physician-assisted suicide degrades life. Since ancient times, many people have come up with the concept of a merciful and acceptable death. From the Greek and Roman times till today, physician-assisted suicide has been long debated throughout history (Boyd). However, individual choice in dying did not become a United States social and legal issue until recently. Jack Kevorkian, Dr. Death, is well known in history for being the first American doctor to perform physician-assisted suicide (“Jack Kevorkian Biography”). "Kevorkian created, "the suicide machine", a device that distributed first a muscle relaxer, then a drug that would stop the heart from beating" (Kastenbaum). Dr. Jack Kevorkian is perhaps the biggest advocate of assisted suicide after "he aired a videotape, on 60 Minutes, of him injecting Thomas Youk. He was charged with first degree murder, in 1998, for killing Thomas Youk, a victim of Lou Gehrig's disease" (Pickert). As a physician, Dr...
Words: 1688 - Pages: 7
...Physicians Assisted Suicide 1 Week Two Assignment PHI 103- Inforamal Logic Physicians Assisted Suicide 2 Most people want to live with dignity and die with dignity. People live their life the way they want to. They make important choices that can be very difficult sometimes and lead to dramatic changes. A person has a constitutional right to decide whether he wants to live or not. Some people become very ill or have devastating physical problems. Many of them trust their doctors to help them to cope with their illness and end their suffering. Physician-Assisted Suicide is an important topic that concerns people all over the United States. PAS is “the voluntary termination of one’s life by using means or information, such as a drug prescription or indication of the lethal dosage, provided by physician who is aware of how the patient intends to use such information or means”. Some people are against it because it goes against their religion and moral principals. Others are for it because it helps dying people to leave this world with dignity. Although opponent of PAS think that only God has the right to decide when a person has to die, others who are with it believe that a person has a right to end the suffering and pain by their own. One of the biggest benefits of PAS is that a person can stop their suffering and pain. There are ...
Words: 1071 - Pages: 5
...A Survey of Physician-Assisted Suicide English Composition I Abstract I recently became aware of the Oregon Death and Dignity Act; I found this to be an interesting idea. It is not difficult to understand that the citizens may have varied and strong opinions about this subject, however the article I have chosen examines the physician opinion of medically assisted suicide, mainly the physicians without the legal option of medically-assisted suicide. A Survey of Physician-Assisted Suicide With an aging population it is not only important to understand the attitude of the public in regards to physician assisted suicide, but also the attitudes of those charged with carrying out the task of euthanasia or assisted suicide. First it is important to understand the term physician assited suicide refers to the medical professional providing the client with the means to commit suicide, meaning the physician provide medications or equipment to facilitate the end of the clients life. This differs from euthanasia in that the physician is not actually ending the client’s life through lethal injection or other direct means. The article I chose to examine is a study of physician attitude towards assisted suicide and a study and the prevalence of this request by their clients. The results are the compiled data of a survey sent to 3102 physicians, these physicians work in the fields most likely to receive a request for assisted suicide. Methods and Analysis The survey involved...
Words: 752 - Pages: 4
...fundamental human right and a legal option for anyone around the globe. One major benefit of physician-assisted suicide is that it ends suffering. According to "Doctor Assisted Suicide Pros and Cons List," as death nears, a lot of physical pain can occur from terminal...
Words: 1018 - Pages: 5
...Physician assisted suicide is the voluntary termination of one's life who has been diagnosed with six months or less to live, carried out by the assistance of a physician. Compared to Euthanasia, assisted suicide is performed by the patient themself, where as Euthanasia is performed by the physician. Physician assisted suicide is much easier on the physician themselves for the reason that it puts complete control into the patient. It has been of some controversy over the years since its first legalization in 1997. Today there are five states that have legalized physician assisted suicide which include, California (the most recent),Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington. The reason why this has not been a nation wide acceptance is due to...
Words: 911 - Pages: 4
...American university | ME Ciera Clark NAtional American university | ME State Health Laws on Physician-Assisted Suicide State Health Laws on Physician-Assisted Suicide February 15, 2013 February 15, 2013 Table of Contents Introduction……………………………………………………………….2 About Euthanasia and Assisted suicide………………………………….2 Legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide……………………………….3 States considering bills to legalize physician-assisted suicide………….3-4 Death with Dignity Acts………………………………………………......4-5 Oppose Physician Assisted Suicide………………………………………5-6 Supporters…………………………………………………………………6-7 Reference…………………………………………………………………..7-8 Introduction For decades, the public, government, and physicians have been debating over the “Death with Dignity Act” or “Physician-Assisted Suicide.” It started back in the Ancient Greek and Rome time. The debate originated around the Hippocratic Oath and the condemnation of the practice. With the upsurge of Christianity, many physicians continued to condemn the practice. Within the last two centuries the public has spurned many discussions about Physician-assisted suicide and Euthanasia from many different historic perspectives (Procon.org, 2012). Although this debate has been lengthy and many of the issues discussed over the centuries are repetitive, new ideas and concerns do emerge with the current debate. What do you think when you here assisted suicide? Would you want your family member to suffer with an illness that has put them in so much...
Words: 2028 - Pages: 9
...Exploratory essay “Physician assisted suicide” Physician assisted suicide (PAS) is the voluntary termination of one's life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician. It is legal in a few countries like the Netherlands. In the United States it is legal in only the state of Oregon. It is a very controversial topic with 3 different opinions groups. The group of people who are for it, those who are opposed to it and there is a third neutral group which is composed of medical associations. The first group is composed of the pro PAS .They argue that there are some patients who experience terrible suffering that can't be relieved by any other of the therapeutic techniques nursing has to offer, and some of those patients desperately seek deliverance. For pro PAS, PAS is not about doctors killing patients , but it is about patients whose pain cannot be relieved. Physicians who consider it merciful to help a patient to die by writing a prescription are not criminals. Supporters of PAS feel It is cruel to leave patients who need such help to find for themselves solutions to end their own lives, solutions that can be traumatic when human assistance can be available. The physicians have obligations, but when a cure is impossible and palliation has failed to achieve its objectives, there is always a remaining obligation to relieve suffering. If the physician has used all available...
Words: 935 - Pages: 4
...Physician-Assisted Suicide Physician-assisted suicide presents one of the greatest contemporary challenges to the medical profession's ethical responsibilities. Proposed as a means toward more humane care of the dying, assisted suicide threatens the very core of the medical profession's ethical integrity. Physician-assisted suicide occurs when a physician provides a patient with the medical means and/ or the medical knowledge to commit suicide ("Module 5: Physician-assisted,"). For example, the physician could provide sleeping pills and information about the lethal dose, while aware that the patient is contemplating suicide. In physician-assisted suicide, the patient performs the life-ending act, whereas in euthanasia, the physician administers the drug or other agent causing death. Although, the medical field has made great strides in improving end-of-life care through palliative and hospice programs, sometimes it’s just not enough. The care that is offered to the chronically ill and elderly is less than ideal and it is estimated that 40-70% of patients die in pain, another 50-60% die feeling short of breathe; 90% of nursing homes, where patients go to receive 24 hour nursing care, are gravely understaffed (Morrow, 2010). Debates Physician-assisted suicide is among the majority of debates in bioethical technology, in our time. Every reasonable person prefers that no patient ever contemplate suicide (with...
Words: 1219 - Pages: 5
...Physician Assisted Suicide Donald Pecher SOC-120 Sharon Gerczyk 11/29/2010 Imagine being in a hospital room with an old, terminally ill man. Day in and day out his pain gets worse and worse. The nurses and doctors walk past as if they cannot hear his cries of pain and agony. This man calls upon a doctor for help. He asks the doctor to end his pain. The doctor feels sorry for him and decides to help him out. The very next day, the doctor is on trial for killing a man who begged out of pain to end it. It does not seem fair, does it? Well, believe it or not, the doctor has just committed a crime known as assisted suicide. Physician assisted suicide does not kill, it relieves. The patients no longer wish to suffer and they may really believe it is their time to go. If a doctor pulls the plug on someone or takes them off of their machines in order to die, it’s the same thing. Many people believe it is a money issue. Whatever the case, physician assisted suicide would give the patient the chance to choose and be in control of his or her life. What is Physician-Assisted Suicide? (In Physician-assisted suicide, the physician provides the necessary means or information on death. The patient performs the act. In Euthanasia, the physician performs the intervention. Euthanasia is 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". Suffering has always been a part...
Words: 2695 - Pages: 11
...Physician assisted suicide is wrong.is when the physician helps the patient take his or her own life due to the fact that the patient is suffering from a terminal illness. I am against physician assisted suicide because the role of a physician is to save a person’s life not taking it away, even if the patient requested it. This violates the fundamental principle of medicine and should not be practice. I feel that this should not be legal in the USA or in any other countries. Like I stated before, a physician’s job is to save lives, not the opposite. I understand that patients that are suffering from terminal illnesses may want to end their life because of pain they are suffering every day, but that is not the excuse to take away a person’s life. They have to think about their family; try to do anything to stay alive because there could be hope. Quantity of life is when an individual chose the live a longer life that may require various forms of science, such as machines and medication. This may lessen or slow down the effects of various illness and chronic conditions. Quality of life is when an individual chose to live without these “medicines and machines”. They live a free life from these various products but may live a shorter life. There are pros and cons for both of these choices, but if I were to choose, I would choose quantity of life. I want to be able to live longer. As a healthcare provider, I would respect and listen to my patient’s view even if its the opposite view...
Words: 278 - Pages: 2
...Physicians-Assisted Suicide Physician-Assisted Suicide is a medical process where a physician supplies a terminally ill patient with a prescription for one dose of lethal medication. The prescription is given to a patient upon request only if the patient intends to end his or her own life because of suffrage from a terminal illness. Today, physicians-assisted suicide is more commonly known as the Death-With-Dignity Act. Recent stories of patients who have attempted to end their own life by lethal medication have made countless headlines concerning the topic throughout many informational sources. Currently, the states of Washington, Oregon, and Vermont are the only three states that have adopted the Death-With-Dignity Act. Physician-Assisted Suicide is among many practices that aid in ending a patient’s life along with DNR’s, DNI’s, and AND’s, when life-sustaining treatments are denied. Physicians-Assisted Suicide is much more controversial than other life ending methods because it enables a patient to end her or her own life in a way that many individuals feel is immoral and unethical. The ethical issues of physicians-assisted suicide are both emotional and controversial, yet healthcare workers deal with a request for this alternative every day. Is physicians-assisted suicide the answer? The question doesn’t come by an easy answer. However, both sides of the debate, either for it or against it, provide strong, concrete points that help truly uncover where the controversy lies...
Words: 3316 - Pages: 14
...Physician-Assisted Suicide SOC 120 Professor Harrison 29 July 2013 Physician-Assisted Suicide Imagine a frail elderly woman laying in the nursing home in pain. This woman is 80 years old and has been diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and her heart cannot withstand treatment via radiation or chemotherapy. She has less than six months to live. Day in and day out you pass her room and hear her crying out from the immense pain. The pain medications are no longer working. She’s tired of fighting, tired of hurting, and tired of waiting to die. After consideration and discussions with her family she has decided to ask the doctor to help and end her life. The doctor feels remorse for the elderly lady and wants to help but cannot decide if it is the ethical thing to do because he knows that what he’s being asked to do is considered physician-assisted suicide. How is physician-assisted suicide any different than regular suicide? Does the fact that a person is terminally ill make it right? Who gets to decide if it is right? These are questions people may ask themselves when deciding whether or not they think physician-assisted suicide is ethical. Whether it is requested or not, many would say it is unethical for a physician to deliberately cause death to a person. Physicians take an oath to first do no harm. Others may say that a person has the right to make his or her own decisions about his or her life. In this paper, I will explore each side of physician-assisted...
Words: 2486 - Pages: 10
