Physician Assisted Suicide
Within the past decade, Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) has become a controversial topic within the medical field. However, many people are not entirely aware of the terminology regarding PAS (3). PAS is when a physician provides the necessary means and/or information to enable the patient to perform a life-ending act (AMA). In regards to physician assisted suicide there are many positive and negative arguments that can help us decide for ourselves on how we feel about PAS.
Physician assisted suicide also known as physician assisted death dates back to the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans. During this time, there was an oath known as the Hippocratic Oath. This oath stated that regardless of circumstances
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PAS will always be a controversial topic for there is no right or wrong answer. No one can come to conclusion that it is destructive let alone that it is not. But one can use the materials and tools presented to help them decide for themselves on how they feel about PAS.
Works Cited
"Doctor Assisted Suicide Pros and Cons List." NYLNorg. N.p., 13 July 2015. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. .
"Four Problems with Physician-Assisted Suicide." The Heritage Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. .
Hollinger, Victoria Jade. "Physician Assisted Suicide: An Unbiased Review." PDF. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. .
"JURIST - Cancer Patient Commits Physician-assisted Suicide under Washington Law." JURIST - Cancer Patient Commits Physician-assisted Suicide under Washington Law. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. .
"Opinion 2.211 - Physician-Assisted Suicide." Opinion 2.211 - Physician-Assisted Suicide. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. .
"Religious Groups ' Views on End-of-Life Issues." Pew Research Centers Religion Public Life Project RSS. N.p., 21 Nov. 2013. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. .
"State-by-State Guide to Physician-Assisted Suicide - Euthanasia - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2016.
What is a doctor’s point of view? Doctor Michelle Stanford, was served as the chief resident at Children’s Hospital in Denver among many other accolades. Dr. Stanford, states it undermines the integrity of the medical profession; she goes on to quote the American Medical Association “Allowing physicians to participate would cause more harm than good, physicians assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s as healer would difficult or impossible and would pose serial societal risks.” (Prop 106 - Dr. Michelle Stanford).
Physician-assisted suicide is here to help aid in the area of the terminally ill, and today it still remains illegal. This is one of the areas that cannot be ignored and yet here it stands,
As assisted suicide became more accepted, more people have died. “Oregon, which passed its Death with Dignity Act through a voter referendum in 1994 and began allowing the practice in 1998, has the longest track record. The number of Oregonians who choose physician-assisted suicide has been slowly climbing; 673 cases were recorded between 1998 and 2012. In 2012, the 77 cases reported to the Public Health Division amounted to about 0.2 percent of the total deaths recorded in the state” (Karaim 2013 para 14).
Physician-Assisted Suicide: A Right to Murder? Doctors spend over eight years attending college, studying and practicing how humans work and how to save them. So why should it be right for physicians to help out their patients in killing themselves? If a person chooses to end their life, they completely loose the possibility of a medical miracle of being able to live through whatever condition they have.
I am concerned about physician assisted suicide. I do not believe that suicide is the answer, no matter the situation. I am against assisted suicide because I believe it is unethical to be allowed to choose to die. I think that assisted suicide should not be allowed. I also do not understand how a doctor or nurse could help a patient commit suicide.
Physician assisted suicide is something that has been debated all the way back to 1st century B.C. As opinions back then favored physician assisted suicide, opinions in the 12th-15th century did not support it, with the backup of the hippocratic oath. As the years progressed opinions on this subject flipped back and forth. Today, the opinion on physician assisted suicide is on it’s favor. However, there are only five states that allow this practice.
Physician-assisted suicide is a very controversial topic in today’s society. Physician-assisted suicide is defined as an action performed by the physician at the request of the patient to end the patient’s life with certain medical procedures. The legalization of physician-assisted suicide should not be passed in the United States because it is not morally acceptable in the society, leads to misunderstanding of a physician’s duty and increases mental suffering of both patient’s family and doctor. Physician-assisted suicide should not be legalized since the action itself is not justified morally. It is never morally acceptable for the society to give up on its people’s lives.
Death is inevitable, it is something all living creatures must endure on this side of eternity. There is a multitude who will not be able to determine or choose when that time happens, life circumstances are usually out of the controlling grips of humanity. Despite that truth, as of 2015 there are five states in the U.S.A. where terminally ill persons eighteen or older with no more than six months to live are allowed to take their life with the assistance of a physician. California, Montana, Vermont, Washington, and Oregon, have all legalized the practice of physician assisted suicide (USA Today, PAS Dignity 2015). The act is generally committed by way of a prescribed lethal dose of medications intended to speed up the process of the patient 's
Physician assisted suicide is when a physician provides the means required to commit suicide, including prescribing lethal amounts of harmful drugs to a patient. In the United States alone, there is great controversy about physician assisted suicide. The issue is whether physician assisted suicide is murder or an act of sympathy for the patient. The main point is that terminally ill patients should have a right to physician assisted suicide if it meets their needs and is done properly. Physician assisted suicide is an appropriate action for the terminally ill that want to end their life in peace before it ends at the hands of the terminal disease.
After researching both sides of the argument, it is clear that the benefits of physician-assisted suicide outweigh the disadvantages. The benefits of ending a patient’s pain and suffering, minimizing the emotional and financial effects on families, and preserving the right for patients to decide their own fate, supports the legalization of physician-assisted suicide.
A survey of physicians conducted by the Canadian Medical Association found that "a significant proportion of respondents reported that they had been asked for assistance in dying by patients whose primary motivation appeared to be loneliness, lack of social support, or perceived burden on others" (Downar et al., 2017). This means that if physician-assisted suicide is legalized, at-risk people could be vulnerable to coercion or abuse. Opponents say allowing doctors to assist in suicide would undermine their role as healers and could lead to unwanted or unnecessary deaths, or a loss of respect for human life. The American Psychological Association echoes these concerns and highlights the major risks associated with such decisions. Among those concerns are, “Depression causing a desire for death,” “A loss of autonomy and function causing a desire for control,” and “worries about future pain” (Weir).
Patients have the right to the kind of treatment they want. 3) Conclusion a) Physician assisted suicide can help treat the terminally ill how they would like to be treated. b) The long history of assisted suicide speaks for itself in the matter of if it should be legal or
Physician assisted suicide has been an intensely debated problem for years but if used properly, could be an effective way to help those who are suffering at the end of their life. Countless people have been advocating for physician assisted suicide for years and the most famous advocate for assisted suicide was Dr. Jack Kevorkian. He was a pathologist but received the nickname Dr. Death after it was estimated that between 1990 and 1999 he assisted 130 terminally ill individuals in their assisted suicides (“Jack Kevorkian”). Dr. Kevorkian is considered a crusader for physician
The medical field is filled with opportunities and procedures that are used to help improve a patient’s standard of living and allow them to be as comfortable as possible. Physician assisted suicide (PAS) is a method, if permitted by the government, that can be employed by physicians across the world as a way to ease a patient’s pain and suffering when all else fails. PAS is, “The voluntary termination of one's own life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician.”-Medicinenet.com. This procedure would be the patient’s decision and would allow the patient to end their lives in a more peaceful and comfortable way, rather than suffering until the illness takes over completely. Physician assisted suicide should be permitted by the government because it allows patients to end their suffering and to pass with dignity, save their families and the hospital money, and it allows doctors to preserve vital organs to save
Assisted suicide is a rather controversial issue in contemporary society. When a terminally ill patient formally requests to be euthanized by a board certified physician, an ethical dilemma arises. Can someone ethically end the life of another human being, even if the patient will die in less than six months? Unlike traditional suicide, euthanasia included multiple individuals including the patient, doctor, and witnesses, where each party involved has a set of legal responsibilities. In order to understand this quandary and eventually reach a conclusion, each party involved must have their responsibilities analyzed and the underlying guidelines of moral ethics must be investigated.