Essays on Physician-Assisted Suicide

Morality and Abortion

1. Is abortion in any sense a moral question, or is it purely a question of individual rights? One strongly believes that abortion is both, a moral issue, as well as a question of individual rights. According to one’s research, abortion falls within the ethical and moral realm in terms of the curtailment of life of the unborn . Accordingly, the authors asserted that “pro-life activists make the cunning argument that abortion is equivalent to murder, and murder is not ethical. Therefore, abortion is unethical” . However, abortion is also a question of individual rights since the woman carrying the ...

In this ethical case study, I review the case of Miss S., an elderly patient recovering from severe physical injury and paralysis who advocates for physician-assisted suicide. In reviewing the case, the potential ethical issues and potential ways to address the issue at hand are provided, discussed through the lens of the ANA Code of Ethics. Assisted suicide is a complex issue, especially from a nursing perspective, and this case study provides one potential way to address it.

Facts

Miss S. is an elderly woman who has recently developed severe paralysis following a cervical spine stabilization surgery. Because of partial ...

Physician-assisted suicide is a highly controversial topic which tends to polarize people’s views. Around the world, there is much debate in governments about laws regulating physician-assisted suicide, and several countries now allow the practice. There are many strong arguments on both side of the debate and taking all of these arguments into account is helpful when assessing the topic. Against this type of euthanasia, the slippery slope argument asserts that legalizing assisted suicide could lead to desensitization around killing, which could in turn lead to involuntary euthanasia being legalized. Perhaps the most important to a physician, the medical ...

1. The proposed topic is on physician assisted suicide, especially arguing that patients should not be given the prerogative to opt in resorting in ending one’s life, especially for those with chronic, debilitating illnesses and terminal conditions. 2. The topic had been a controversial issue as some societies shun on the option. The recent movie entitled ‘Me Before You’ touched on the topic of euthanasia or physician assisted suicide . As such, one would like to delve more deeply on the topic and determine the rationality or justification for such decisions. 3. The potential thesis statements are as follows:

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Physician assisted suicide is “the voluntary termination of one's own life by the administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician” . This kind of medical practice, just like any other controversial issue, has its pros and cons. Its pros include ending the patients’ as well as their families’ pain and suffering, awareness among patients that their death was their choice, reduced health care expenses, the doctor and nurse can focus on patients who have more chances of survival, preservation of vital organs to save other patients, and restrains patients from committing suicide. On ...

Physician-assisted suicide is an issue that have been lively debated. There is still no consensus, as to whether terminally ill individuals should have the right to ask for physician-assisted suicide. There are five states in the United States of America, where physician-assisted suicide is legal. These states are California, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and Montana. In the latter state, the option of the physician-assisted suicide is obtained via court decision ("Physician-Assisted Suicide Fast Facts - CNN.com", 2016, n.p.). The ethics of the physician-assisted suicide is being questioned nowadays. There are certain arguments in favor of physician-assisted suicide, as well as ...

Introduction

Individuals have many significant views about human life. There are some circumstances that a person love his life, but may choose to end it for some unwanted medical reason. Some individuals may be in a situation that requires an important decision to end someone else’s life, such as a doctor who was requested to end the patient’s life through assisted suicide. In some cases, a family member may need to decide whether or not to continue his relative’s suffering through continuous medication or to end the physical pain by discontinuing the treatment especially during terminal cases. ...

Introduction:

Physician assisted suicide is the act of destroying one’s own life with the assistance of a physician. According to Walker (25), in Oregon based on a terminally ill patient’s request a physician can prescribe a lethal dose of medication to take the life of a patient. To stop the pain what ethical issues surround the termination of the life of a terminally ill patient? Who bears the responsibility of making this decision? Is it the patient, the medical practitioner, or the patient’s relatives? What considerations are required before making the decision to end a patient’s ...

Pending Law of Dignity with Death

In June 2016, a new law that legalizes physician assisted suicide will take effect in California. In California, the law will allow terminally ill patients to end their lives legally through prescription medication. The state law has been passed as few dying Californians started to move to other states such as Oregon, which had already legalized the law. In California, patients who are dying had been in limbo, after the California lawmakers approved the law last year in the State Senate. The supporters of the law have appreciated the bill claim that it gives them an option and will ...

Abstract

Euthanasia or Physician assisted suicide (PAS) is the act of relieving pain and suffering by giving terminally ill patients drugs that induce death. Pros of euthanasia include living wills, the Hippocratic Oath and the utility theory as well as the lowering of the cost of health care services. Living wills written by most individuals can deny them the right to extraordinary health care services which are aimed at prolonging their lives. However, it is important to note that a lot can change between when a will is written, and the time of death. Physicians are sworn by oath to ...

Abstract

For a long time, the medical profession has subscribed to many ethical statements that have been developed primarily for patients’ benefits. As members of the medical profession, physicians should always recognize their actual responsibility of the patients, society, self, and other professionals. Adhering to the set principles of professional conduct is essential in acting ethically in the profession. The topic of physician-assisted suicide (PAS) is controversial in the American medial context. Physically assisted suicide and euthanasia are often used interchangeably. The ethics of these issues are squarely placed before the public eye. This paper focuses on the ethics surrounding ...

For centuries, animals have been euthanized to stop their suffering when they have become too old or injured. While the decision to put down a beloved pet may be emotionally devastating, there is no question of the ethics involved. In fact, many people would think to keep an animal lingering in pain and distress would be considered inhumane. Why, then, do we allow human beings to suffer in pain and distress? Does a human not have the right to a final relief granted to an animal? An animal does not have the ability to grant permission for self-euthanasia like ...

Introduction

Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are a matter of frequent and divisive public debate. On one side of the argument are those who believe that people, especially those with terminal illnesses, should legally be able to determine the time and manner of their death. On the other side of the argument are those who believe that euthanasia is immoral and should never be legally available, even for those who are terminally ill. To get an idea of what doctors think about this subject, Radbruch et al. (2016) reviewed a 2003 EAPC position paper on assisted suicide and wrote 21 statements ...

The right to live or die lies in the hands of an individual. However, the debate on physician-assisted suicide continues to gather different opinions from supporters and opposers. California is one of the legal states in America that supports assisted suicide, though there are religious groups and human rights activists who oppose the act. The journey to its legalization had its up and downs, seen many doctors suffer from practicing the procedure while others being grateful about it. With time, California continued to gather support towards the approval of assisted suicide and people celebrated once it became law in ...

ARTICLE REVIEW: Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide in dementia

Tomlinson, E., Spector, A., Nurock, S., & Stott, J. (2015). Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide in dementia: A qualitative study of the views of former dementia carers. Palliative Medicine, 29(8), 720-726. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0269216315582143

Introduction

The interest on the topic of mercy killing or assisted dying for people suffering from dementia from media and the scholarly world, little has been done to research the perspective of the closest people who are affected by the act. Studies estimate that three people over the age of sixty-five years of age succumb to dementia, with most of them not in their right minds when they die. ...

Religion has an enormous influence on any given society. Religion has been widely praised for promoting prosocial behaviors among individuals in society(Moore, 2015). Psychologists as well have acknowledged the benefits religion has to our lives such as reducing the rates of depression. In Sociology as well, religion has been long recognized for its effect of promoting prosocial attitudes and behaviors. It does this by regulating behavior and coming up with norms and values that integrate people into the society. Emile Durkheim proposed that religion has a prosocial influence of decreasing suicide via establishing values and norms by which ...

Physician assisted suicide has always been a controversial social issue in the cultures around the world. It is associated with ethical issues as well as social consequences. Physician assisted suicide is defined as “an act of self-destruction committed by a patient with the assistance of a physician” It is the process of ending someone’s life based on that persons own wish. When a person wants to end his or her life because of suffering from a terminal disease or some other weakening condition, physician assisted suicide is often recommended or considered. However, some people think that physician assisted ...

Abstract

The twenty first century has witnessed impressive advances in science and medicine, resulting in increased life expectancy. Unfortunately there has also been a dramatic increase in degenerative diseases such as diabetes and cancer. These development have brought the issue of euthanasia to center stage. The following essay attempts a careful examination of the issue, looking at the arguments opponents and supporters have put forward. Among the issues examined is the right to choose how one dies in accordance with the principles of autonomy and beneficence. It is argued that the practice of euthanasia only benefits the very few individuals ...

Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia

It is becoming progressively regular for people to support the decision for terminally ill patients to be let to die, mainly to put them out of their misery. This can take place in two ways, that is, physician-assisted suicide (PAS) and euthanasia. Euthanasia is an act in which the physician causes the death of terminally ill patients by administering lethal doses. During PAS, the physician prescribes lethal doses to patients but does not administer the drugs. The term euthanasia comes from a Greek word which interpreted as “good death”. In other words, it is “merciful killing”; ending an individual ...

The movie tells the story of Dax Cowart, who was a victim of pipeline explosion at the age of 25. The case of Dax highlights major points in healthcare in case of emergency situations, such as what he experienced. It was a tragic experience for Dax, as the injury that he got was something that made him decide to end his life through the help of his doctors. The physical pain that he suffered was described to be at the highest level during the time of his treatment at the hospital. The first major point of the movie was ...

The question of morality has been discussed throughout the history of philosophy. These questions cannot be solved through simple logic due to the philosophic difficulty that they present. This is important because in the modern world there are still major issues that challenge the capacity for rational decision making. This is especially true in regards to medical ethics, in which these decisions can often result in the difference between life and death. Should doctors be given the right to end patients lives in cases in which they are going through extreme suffering and are given consent? This brings up ...

Having looked at the PAD debate from either side of the argument, and having known what leads terminally ill patients to consider PAD, it is wise to consider whether the choices made by the terminally ill patients are worth the risk of having their lives terminated. By the time many of them are making the decision to have their lives ended, they will have made conscious and informed comparative searches and arrived at the decision to have someone help them end their lives. Many are the times when these patients are put on life- saving medical treatments without which ...

Abstract

This paper puts the legal and ethical issues of physician-assisted suicide in the context of the larger debate on privacy and the right to die, which can be divided into three constituent parts: (1) a patient’s constitutionally protected right to privacy in all matters involving end-of-life treatment decisions. So long as a patient has the mental capacity to make informed consent, the government does not have a legitimate interest to override end-of-life decisions. Critical to the analysis of a patient’s refusal of life-sustaining treatment is the burden of the state to prove a patient did not have ...

Research Paper

Research Paper Chronic and terminal illnesses are familiar concepts in the healthcare industry. Different patients have different reactions to diagnoses with chronic and terminal illnesses, which requires the healthcare professionals to be comprehensively prepared to provide relevant care for each patient. Every patient is entitled to an autonomous right, and have the right to choose the type of care that they can accept. Physicians and healthcare professionals are ethically required to honor the rights of the patients while observing dignity and respect of every patient. When a person is diagnosed with terminal illness, he/she can choose to either receive ...

The current debate on whether to adopt or reject a law that aims at legalizing physician-assisted death has been met both with positivity and negativity in equal measures. While it is important to respect the decisions of patients in palliative care units, nurses are under an obligation to making sure that the decisions they make concerning this grave matter are supposed to be in line with the reasoning perspective and following the set-out laws and regulations, rather than from emotive and polarized positions. There is the need to take into account different perspectives of the issue at hand with ...

English II-Pre Ap

Introduction Assisted suicide is a term used where doctors knowingly provided a patient or helps a person commit suicide. This can be done through inducing lethal drugs to the patients. Assisted suicide occurs in many cases due to some circumstances that leave the doctors with a choice to either save a person’s life or not (Asch 123). When doctors have to induce the assisted suicide, there has to be an agreement reached with patients, patient’s family and the doctors in order to ensure that the case is not conducted without the knowledge of the patients. When there ...

INTRODUCTION

The Oregon Death with Dignity Act (DWDA), which allows physician to prescribe lethal drugs to competent terminally ill patients was put in place to ensure that suffering patients end their lives in a humane and dignified manner (Smith, Goy, Harvath & Ganzini, 2011).Prior to its enactment in October 1997, numerous researches had been carried out which showed that towards the end of their lives, terminally ill patients usually suffers tremendously, thus going through a lot of pain. Family members had to sit and watch their loved ones writhe in pain and wither away to nothing. This pain had to be controlled. ...

Introduction

The Oregon Death with Dignity Act (DWDA), which allows physician to prescribe lethal drugs to competent terminally ill patients was put in place to ensure that suffering patients end their lives in a humane and dignified manner (Smith, Goy, Harvath & Ganzini, 2011).Prior to its enactment in October 1997, numerous researches had been carried out which showed that towards the end of their lives, terminally ill patients usually suffers tremendously, thus going through a lot of pain (Miller, Hedlund, & Soule, 2006). Family members had to sit and watch their loved ones writhe in pain and wither away to helpless beings. It ...

Introduction

The definition of physician assisted suicide is slightly different from the general term definition of euthanasia. Although some may equate physician assisted suicide with the blanket term, the distinction between euthanasia and physician assisted suicide is that the latter is done with both the patient’s and doctor’s intent to end the patient’s life by unnatural means (Tamayo-Vela´zquez, Simo´n-Lorda, and Cruz-Piqueras, 678). The doctor assists the patient in committing suicide, usually by administering an injection or pill that contains a lethal substance. A doctor may also administer a relaxant to help keep the patient calm during the ...

- Introduction Euthanasia, sometimes called assisted suicide, is the practice of allowing an individual suffering from a significant, terminal illness or injury to end their life before the injury or illness takes them. The idea of euthanasia is to allow the individual freedom from pain and suffering; proponents of the practice suggest that euthanasia allows people to avoid the pain and humiliation that can come from long-term palliative care. Euthanasia is a process through which medical personnel or families help the patient to end his or her life. There are certain situations that are not considered euthanasia-- such as “ ...

The subject of patient rights is controversial and ties heavily into human rights. Individuals have the right to autonomous choice provided their choices do no harm to others. Individuals also have the right to live their lives as they see fit within legal and moral boundaries. However, how society defines legal and moral is often up for debate. One such debate is centered on the right of an individual to commit legal suicide when they are faced with certain, painful and lingering death. There are many viewpoints on this topic. One viewpoint shared by many is that an individual ...

Introduction

Death, a journey all must embark on where none can ever turn back and this is a part of life that no one wants to deal with let alone deal with when it comes to a dying relative. However, there has been a lot of talk recently about physician assisted suicide when it comes to a dying relative and some physicians feel it is their obligatory duty to relieve that dying person of any pain that they might be experiencing. Some people feel that it is easier to do this to spare the dying of their pain depending on the amount of time that ...

This paper is about whether physician assisted suicide should be allowed. Euthanasia has always been a controversial issue all over the world. This paper will look at physician assisted suicide and the arguments against and the arguments for as brought out by some philosophers like Kant and Jean Paul Satre. We will start with the arguments against physician assisted suicide, the arguments for and also other elements like the Hippocratic Oath which plays a major role in this topic of physician assisted suicide. There are many philosophers who do not support physician assisted suicide. One of these philosophers is Kant. ...

End of life alternatives: physician assisted suicide and continue sedation

Introduction Today, many people are dying in hospitals due to chronic disease which often call for a decision regarding the end of life. Sometimes, these decisions lead to the shortening of life and have often roused immense debate based on ethical implications. “Physician Assisted suicide” (PAS) remains one of the most debated subjects in ethical circles. This is whereby the physician provides a patient, at their own request, with a lethal form of medication which is self-administered by the patient. On the other hand, Continuous Sedation (CS) when used at the end of life takes or reduces the patient’s consciousness ...

Assisted suicide

Recently in the newspapers there was a man who killed his wife who was suffering from stage four cancer. In his defense, he said that the wife had asked him to kill her in order for her to stop feeling pain. The wife was no longer responding to pain medication and was in agony for several weeks. This act of mercy killing is called euthanasia.

Euthanasia

Euthanasia is defined as the intentional killing of people in order to relieve them from pain and suffering. Euthanasia is a hotly debated topic. Critics believe that mercy killing is unethical. They believe that the choice ...

Rodriguez v British Columbia [1993] 3 S.C.R 519

Introduction

This is a landmark decision from the Supreme Court of Canada in a case that ran from 20 May to 30 September, 1993. It was an appeal from the Court of Appeal for British Columbia. The file was number 234776 and indexed as Rodriguez v British Columbia (Attorney General), with Sue Rodriguez as the appellant and the Attorney General of British Columbia as the main respondent, alongside others interveners who included the British Columbia Coalition of People with Disability, the Right to Die Society, the Coalition of Provincial Organization of the Handicapped, the ...

Personality and developmental theorists have always been embroiled in controversies of one type or another. By the very nature it is controversial theorizing. The study of people and how they interact and how they respond may seem alarming to many. Freud developed his theories of psychodynamics that, while not wholly discredited, have fallen out of academic favor (Oxford Handbook of Psychiatry, 2005, p. 774). Freud was and remains controversial for both his use of drugs and postulations on the role sexuality plays in developing the psyche. Erikson, a student of Freud’s, seemingly tried to sanitize the sexual aspects of ...

Jeff Stephenson

The Debate of Quality of Life as it Relates to End of Life Decisions In 1990, Terri Schiavo had a heart attack that placed her in a vegetative state for over a decade. The debate that surfaced as a result of her ailment had an enormous impact on how Americans viewed clinical autonomy. Clinical autonomy is the ability to appoint a person the control of your treatment in case you are not able to. Unconscious and unable to even feed herself, Terri was considered a “vegetable.” Prior to having a cardiac arrest, Terri had legally appointed her husband as the sole person in charge of ...

The topic that is I chose is end of life ethical issues. In this topic the researcher employed both qualitative and quantitative research methodology to substantiate the claims of his research. The research adopted scientific inquiry which involved the observation of the behavioral patterns of both terminally ill patients and the dynamics of society and making inferences based on these behavioral patterns. The researcher digs deep in determining the need for patients to terminate their lives before they are actually dead. Most of the respondents and the research sample used in this line of research indicate that many patients ...

Medical Care at the End of Life: A Catholic Perspective by David F. Kelly (end of life issues)

In the context of this book various ethical principles are analyzed with respect to the medical care at the end life of people and the support that people deserve at their end life. The book is broken into sections which try to expound on the principles guiding the healthcare at the end life of people. In the context of chapter one, the issue of ordinary and extraordinary means has been reflected with respect to end life medical care ethics. This shows the dilemma facing the medical professionals and the health institutions with regards to end life ethics. This ...

One of the most difficult subjects for people to talk about is death. People may joke about it; for example, making outrageous predictions for their own deaths saying things like, “My death will be caused by being eaten by a great white shark!” However, people tend to avoid serious discussions about death with others such as family; people even avoid an introspective self-dialogue about death, neglecting creating documents such as wills and advance directives. When imminent death or a lengthy terminal illness arrive on the horizon, it may come as a surprise even to those who have lived a long and rewarding life. ...

Physician assisted suicide (PAS) has been one of the most controversial and sensitive issues facing the healthcare industry in most countries today (Burt 567). PAS normally occur when a physician gets involved in helping a patient take their own life through the writing of a prescription, advice, lethal medication, or giving a patient crucial information that can enable them to take their own life. Someone can describe it as a doctor providing a gun to a patient, and the patient pulling the trigger (Manning 248). PAS tends to have a similar moral goal with euthanasia, which is normally premature death of a patient. Most ethicists have described ...

Physician assisted suicide is a suicide accomplish with the aid of a physician. In some cases, the term is used interchangeably with euthanasia, which refers to the act of ending the life of an individual suffering from an incurable condition or terminal illness, by using lethal injection or suspending the use of extraordinary medical treatment (Humphrey 3). The important issue is that it is assisted death rather than allowing natural death to take place. Physician assisted suicide is an issue of contention which stirs global conflict with various countries differing strongly on their legal stances towards the issue. Currently, only four ...

Physician assisted suicide is a term that is commonly used to refer to an action of helping an individual to take away his or her life. This can involve providing the individual with means like equipment and drugs which can aid in ending the life of the individual. Currently, physician assisted suicide is under debate due to the moral, religious and legal concepts that are linked to it. Physician assisted suicide may be considered legal or illegal under some jurisdiction. It is important to consider Craig’s case in the movie ‘the suicide tourist’ when analyzing physician assisted suicide cases. ...

Writing a Claim of Policy Essay

Claim- There should be a universal standard regarding the legality of physician-assisted suicide. 1. Overview, Purpose and historical background

Definition of Terms

Some of the key terms in this paper that the reader needs to be conversant with include, suicide, assisted suicide, and physician assisted suicide. Kopelman and De Ville write that suicide is the taking of one’s life without being forced by from one’s self will. This means that when a suicide is committed, the victim has the willingness to die with him or herself. Kopelman and De Ville continue to explain that an action is considered as physician assisted ...

Reported cases of suicide due to incurable diseases, commonly referred to as terminal illness, have been on the rise. Today, there are several terminal diseases that plague our community. Key among these terminal diseases includes cancer, AIDS and diabetes. Adult patients have always considered the option of terminating their lives so as to avert the suffering that comes with the disease. Some of the methods used by patients in performing suicide are either personally initiated or Physician-assisted suicides, commonly referred to as euthanasia. In all cases and laws according to most constitutions, it is illegal to end the life ...

Medical Law and Ethics

Law and ethics are different disciplines which tend to interact in different ways especially in the medical profession. Medical practitioners face many issues in their medical practice that require other professionals such as lawyers, ethicists and risk managers to intervene. This is where law and ethics interact with medicine in order to ensure that the medical practices and activities are done in an ethical and legal manner. Medical law and ethics will guarantee safety to all medical practitioners as well as the patients in any medical facility.

Medical law and ethics requires the expertise of medical practitioners, ethicists and ...

Assisted-Physician Suicide happens when a physician helps a patient end his or her own life in cases when the patient is suffering very much. This may sound a bit unprofessional on the part of the physician but it does happen in some very serious health conditions (Weir 3). The physician in this case will honor the request of a patient to end their own life, thereby prescribing a lethal drug that can help terminate a life prematurely. This brings one to the question whether it should be legalized or not. If it was legalized then there could be a solution to many patients suffering from terminal ...

Physician-assisted suicide has been a controversial topic within the medical sector. Over a prolonged period of time, employees within the medical field have maintained a long tradition of making sure that the life of a patient is protected no matter the cost. However, there has been a shift in this tradition over the recent past. Some medical practitioners have begun to embrace the decisions of patients about what they would like to do with their own lives. This accounts for the reason as no why many doctors have been known to aid patients in their death. The embracement of physician-assisted suicide has aroused heated ...

Outline

Introduction

Lenn Goodman- ‘Some Moral Minima:’ A Perspective

Challenges to Relativism

Conclusion

Introduction Relativism is a concept that forges reality advancing assumptions which declare nothing to be absolutely true or valid. This is so because what has been proven true or valid is always based on personal perceptions which may be influenced by various predisposing factors. Often they may be merely subjective sentiments which are not universal since they only represent the view point of a few, the minority, majority or imposition of a dictator (Baghramian, 2004) When conceptualized within the context of morality it impinges on the framework that ...

If one should oblige to the demands of his or her aging parents of concluding their lives once they is no tangible optimism for recuperation is a major debate in the world today. Do individuals have to respect their parents’ requests and end life support or any other medical support should they have no optimism for recovery? The reply to these queries is hinged on what the individual considers. Concluding a person’s existence by way of mercy-killing is murder in the practical logic, however people become over-involved in their aging parents despair, aches and distress, that many believe that by ...