An Option For Physician Assisted Suicide - 2297 Words

Hippocrates said it best when he stated that â€Å"wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity.† Throughout history, the purpose of practicing medicine was to alleviate ailments, treat diseases, and cure illnesses. Palliative care is a field of medicine that focuses on treating patients with advanced, often untreatable illnesses. As such, palliative care is designed to relieve pain and maintain a good quality of life for patients nearing the end of their lives. There are treatments available that provide pain suppression for the comfortability of the patient. However, there are illnesses that do more than just causing pain. Terminal illnesses such as Huntington’s disease can cause one to lose control of their body and ultimately the loss of personal autonomy. Often times, patients reach a vegetative state, which is a loss of all cognitive functions. Loss of autonomy has a detrimental effect on quality of life, and that is why there is an opti on for physician assisted suicide (PAS). Physician assisted suicide involves the physician writing a prescription for medication in which the patient takes with the purpose of overdosing (Dees et al). Currently, PAS is legal in Colorado, California, Oregon, Washington, and Vermont (Death with Dignity). PAS allows for patients with terminal illnesses to choose when they want to pass. As such, PAS is referred to as the Death with Dignity Act (Death with Dignity), because it allows the patients to demonstrate theirShow MoreRelatedPhysician Assisted Suicide Should Be A Last Option1347 Words   |  6 PagesControlling Your Body: Physician-Assisted Suicide A total of five states: Montana, California, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington, allow for their residents to have a relatively simple way to die before naturally suffering to death with a terminally ill condition. Physician-assisted death is â€Å"providing terminally ill patients with a potentially lethal prescription that they could ingest on their own to relieve otherwise intractable suffering by directly hastening death† (â€Å"Existing ‘Last Resorts’†).Read MoreWhy Physician Assisted Suicide Should Be An Available And Accessible Option For Patients1551 Words   |  7 Pagesthis paper, I will argue that physician assisted suicide should be an available and accessible option for patients that are opting to end their lives on their own terms. Choosing to utilize physician assisted suicide can decrease pain and suffering, allow a person to die with dignity and independence by not feeling that they are becoming a burden on their family, and prevent a person from dying alone. Some of the reasons people are against physician assisted suicide include their personal religiousRead MorePhysician Assisted Suicide : Controversial Healthcare And Political Realms Alike1218 Words   |  5 Pages Physician-Assisted Suicide Elissa Munoz-Tucker University of Arizona Abstract Physician-assisted suicide is controversial in healthcare and political realms alike. Currently, this end-of-life option is practiced in five states within the United States. Social concerns regarding assisted suicide revolve around ethical quandaries; providing the means to a patient’s death is contradictory to ethical principles of healthcare providers. Political concerns surroundingRead MoreAssisted Suicide Should Be Legal Essay1490 Words   |  6 PagesThe process of assisted suicide, or physician-assisted death, is a hotly debated topic that still remains at the forefront of many national discussions today. Assisted suicide can be described as the suicide of patient by a physician-prescribed dose of legal drugs. The reason that this topic is so widely debated is that it infringes on several moral and religious values that many people in the United States have. But, regardless of the way that people feel, a person’s right to live is guaranteedRead MoreEuthanasia An d Physician Assisted Suicide1629 Words   |  7 Pagespeacefully is a valuable option that every human should be able to make for themselves. For those with terminal illnesses or major health problems, assisted suicide creates options to reduce the amount of suffering the patient must enduring. Dying with dignity could be beneficial for not only the person who is dying, but also the person’s family and loved ones. This option, however, is often viewed as unethical and immoral throughout society. Physician-assisted suicide offers an option for those with healthRead MoreThe Debate Of Assisted Suicide1747 Words   |  7 Pages The topic of assisted suicide is very controversial and is heavily debated upon all around the world. While physician assisted suicide is only legal in the Netherlands, Switzerland, and a few states in the U.S., it is illegally practiced widely by physicians and nurses, such as Dr. Jack Kevorkian. I first heard of physician assisted suicide when the dea th of Dr. Kevorkian, an assisted suicide advocate and a suicide aid, was on the news in 2011. Kevorkian assisted in the suicide of many patientsRead MorePhysician Assisted Suicide Should Be Morally Permissible1663 Words   |  7 PagesPhysician assisted suicide should be morally permissible. Patients who are in constant suffering and pain have the right to end their misery at their own discretion. This paper will explore my thesis, open the floor to counter arguments, explain my objections to the counter arguments, and finally end with my conclusion. I agree with Brock when he states that the two ethical values, self-determination and individual well-being, are the focal points for the argument of the ethical permissibility ofRead MorePhysician Assisted Suicide : The Voluntary Termination Of One s Own Life1612 Words   |  7 Pages Physician Assisted Suicide Essay Could you imagine being diagnosed with a terminal illness and not having the option of physician assisted suicide? Hearing the physician inform you that you have no other options than to let your illness decide when and how you will die. Physician assisted suicide is the voluntary termination of one’s own life by administration of a lethal substance with the assistance of a physician. Physician assisted suicide should be legalized in all states throughout theRead MorePhysician Assisted Suicide1226 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿ Physician Assisted Suicide There are instances when people who are terminally ill or severely injured who want to terminate their own lives. Sometimes, due to the state of their injuries or conditions, those people are unable to end their own pain. It is in many of these cases that the patients request assistance in their suicides. This kind of request is like to happen in facilities where the patient receives long term or permanent care. Physician assisted suicide is a hotly contested issueRead MorePhysician Assisted Suicide, When Is It Acceptable?1709 Words   |  7 PagesPhysician-Assisted Suicide, When is it acceptable? Assisted suicide had raised issues of great importance in the society particularly the most controversial of all, the physician assisted suicide in the health care field. Since Oregon and other states implemented the legalization of physician assisted suicide, the debates continues. The U.S. Supreme Court decisions in 1997 and the Pain Relief Promotion Act of 2000 (H.R. 5544) have kept these topics on the policy of the national agenda, along with