Doctor-assisted suicide is among the most controversial topics, which are facing the society in the contemporary world. Doctor-assisted suicide or the Physician-assisted suicide occurs when a physician or a doctor provides a competent with a prescription aimed to end the patient's life. The argument refuting this topic suggests that helping a person to end his life contradict with the practice of medicine and concept of humanism. However, doctor-assisted suicide should be legal because it is a sympathetic response to relieve the dying patient from suffering. Some incurable diseases cause not only suffering to the patients but also a burden for the families of the patients suffering the disease. Therefore, this paper argues that despite there are dangers of legalizing doctor-assisted suicide, the benefits of legalizing this practice outweigh such danger.
One of the advantages of legalizing the doctor-assisted suicide is that the practice provides relief from suffering. When the treatment options become exhausted, healing is unattainable, and the patient is in much suffering, the best palliative and sympathetic care is to relief unbearable pain and suffering through terminating the patient's life. In this case, it is the duty of the physician to provide the patient with medication that he can use to terminate his life if he/she wishes to do so. A study conducted by Emanuel, Emanuel and Fairclough in 2000 indicates, "Those with pain, substantial caregiving needs, and depressive symptoms were most likely to contemplate physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia" (Ardelt 425). Therefore, there is a need to legalize doctor-assisted suicides to relief the pain and suffering of the patients who are suffering from incurable diseases.
Another argument for the doctor-assisted suicides is that this practice enhanced the self-determination and control of the vulnerable patient. In other words, the patient should be granted the right to choose a quick and a "comfortable death" if he suffers from the incurable disease and the doctors have exhausted their efforts and resources to recover his life. According to Ardelt, many patients are afraid that the development of their disease diminishes their mental faculties and dignity, and they fear they would become dependent on their close people (425). Therefore, such people choose to a painless and quick death through the doctor-assisted practice. For such people, it is better to ask the doctor's help to terminate their life rather than waiting to experience their loss of self and terminal decline. However, the legalization of the doctor-assisted suicides should ensure that the practice is voluntary, on the side of the doctor and the patient. Patients should be allowed to make their decision, even pertaining their death without unnecessary interruption from the religious and state opposition.
Doctor-assisted suicides should be legalized because this practice helps the individual to attain psychological reassurance. According to Ezekiel, "44.4 percent of the cancer patients- not all of whom were terminally ill - and 44.4 percent of the thought public discussions with their physicians about end-of-life care that included discussion and PAS would increase their trust in their physicians" (635). Therefore, when the doctor-assisted suicides are legalized, it provides a platform where patients can discuss their end-of-life care with their doctors. The majority of the citizen would achieve psychological reassurance when they discover that doctor-assisted suicides would be possible alternative if their deaths were determined to be too painful.
The high costs associated with the treatment of the incurable diseases illustrates that there is a need to legalize doctor-assisted suicides to help the patient minimize their burden to their family. For instance in the United States, the expenditure associated with the treatment of cancer ranged between $1500 and $5000 between 2003 and 2004 (Siddiqui and Rajkumar 935). However, the median income for the same period for the Medicare beneficiaries was below $22,000. This indicates how the incurable diseases are increasing heath care costs in the United States. In addition, the prevalence of the incurable diseases also affects the economy of the country because the government has to spend some portion of its revenue to treat such diseases. Therefore, a patient should be provided with the right to make a decision concerning termination of their life, if they feel that the associated costs are a burden for them and their families.
However, the argument against the debate of legalizing doctor-assisted suicides argues that this practice does not enhance self-determination and choice but produces dangers that restrict control and choice (Golden, 16). The argument asserts, "Physicians must maintain an absolute repugnance to killing, and point out that autonomy and self-determination are rarely pressing concerns once people actually find themselves at the end of life (Boudreau 79). As a result, the process of doctor-assisted suicide contradicts with humanism. Other views against the debate argue that it is morally and religious wrong to help people in the society commit suicide. However, while these points might have some merits, the benefits of the doctor-assisted suicides outweigh such points as elucidated above (Gopal 183).
In conclusion, it is evident that the benefits of legalizing doctor-assisted suicide outweigh the associated dangers. The practice reliefs the patient from the suffering, and helps them to attain psychological reassurance and psychological reassurance. In addition, this practice would help the patients suffering from incurable diseases relief themselves and the family from the escalating costs. Therefore, considering these point, this paper supports the legalization of doctor-assisted suicides.
Works Cited
Ardelt, Monika. “Physician-Assisted Death” C.D. Bryant et al. (ed.): Handbook of Death and Dying. Thousand oaks, CA: Sage. 2003
Boudreau, J. Donald. "Physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia: can you even imagine teaching medical students how to end their patients' lives?." Permanente journal 15.4 (2011): 79-84.
Emanuel, Ezekiel J. "What Is the Great Benefit of Legalizing Euthanasia or Physican‐Assisted Suicide?." Ethics 109.3 (1999): 629-642.
Golden, Marilyn, and Tyler Zoanni. "Killing us softly: the dangers of legalizing assisted suicide." Disability and Health Journal 3.1 (2010): 16-30.
Gopal, Abilash A. "Physician-Assisted Suicide: Considering the Evidence, Existential Distress, and an Emerging Role for Psychiatry." Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online 43.2 (2015): 183-190.
Siddiqui, Mustaqeem, and S. Vincent Rajkumar. "The high cost of cancer drugs and what we can do about it." Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Vol. 87. No. 10. Elsevier, 2012.
