Lee Johnson, who lived in Oregon, was a retired federal worker who began a subsequent career as a furniture maker. He then developed brain cancer. Although the disease was inevitably going to kill him, he took the necessary precautions intended to extend his life. However, his condition worsened and he became bedridden and endured blurred vision, soreness, and a lot of pain. Lee did not want to go on anymore. Since he lived in Oregon, he was able to opt for Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act to end his life with a lethal dose of pills prescribed by his doctor (Karaim, 2013, p. 451). This occurrence is an example of physician-assisted suicide, which is essentially suicide with the help of a physician by prescribing the patient with lethal medication. Today, physician assisted suicide is legal in only five states: Oregon, Washington, Vermont, and most recently California. Undoubtedly, physician assisted suicide is a highly controversial matter; due to this fact, California will certainly have effort groups who will want to repeal the “End of Life Act,” by which Governor of California Jerry Brown signed earlier this month …show more content…
Certainly, it is cheaper to give one dose of pills that end a suffering patient’s life than to keep them alive with whatever means physicians must use. As a matter of fact, William E Barlow, PhD (2009) claims that medical care for cancer alone is estimated to have cost the United States 89 billion dollars in 2007 (p. S33). This number would not be so high if we allowed people to have terminal cancer to put an end to their suffering. Again, this only takes cancer into consideration; there are numerous other terminal diseases that lead to nothing but suffering during the last few months of one’s life. Physician assisted suicide would not only benefit the patient by allowing them to end their pain, but it would also benefit the state by lowering the costs of
One main decision that could have been changed was lines 37-40. It was when the dad saw flood coming and was yelling to run. If he hadn’t seen the flood things would be different because then his family couldn’t have noticed until it was too late. Gertrude could have well been dead, along with most of her family. The other decision is when Maxwell McArchen jumps off the roof to help Gertrude.
Recent profit driven health care systems are influencing doctors to lessen care in order to cut expenses. If a doctor prescribes a lethal medication to a patient it is cheaper rather than having the patient take medication for long term conditions and serious illness
This report is about Annie. The name has been changed to help her identity. Annie started out saying her mom and grandmother struggled with depression. Her mom taught her children how to handle being bipolar. Annie was diagnosed at the age of 15.
Mary Smith’s biggest fear is how her son, Brian Smith, 29, will survive when she and her husband die; a grim realization that she has come to terms with. Her son has down syndrome and the functional level of a three-year-old. Her son requires around the clock care and ca not be left alone. “I don’t think you are allowed to legally leave a three-year old alone,” said Mrs. Smith. “I would be put in jail if I left a three-year old alone and my house went on fire, and my three-year old died.”
Suicide Assistant Do you believe assisting suicide should be legal? Three states in the United States have legalized physician-assisted suicide in Oregon , Vermont, and Washington. Should we consider this law assisted suicide or murder? Should it be used to kill yourself on purpose or should it be used for your medical conditions?
Public opinion polls showed increased support for physician assisted suicide. This was due in part to technological advances in medicine as well as a greater recognition of patient’s rights.” Twenty-nine-year-old Brittany Maynard, utilized Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act, took her own life in November 2014 following a diagnosis of terminal brain cancer. “A Pew poll conducted after Ms. Maynard’s death, revealed that people viewed this as a heroic act. Also, revealed, the majority of Americans, most likely including physicians, now favor legalizing physician-assisted suicide for painful and incurable conditions: 68 percent in favor, 28 percent opposed.
Jack Kevorkian was a compassionate doctor who believed in his patients’ rights to choose physician assisted suicide and some say he was hero while others called him a monster or Dr. Death. He assisted 130 terminally ill patients to voluntarily end their own lives with dignity, peace, and at their own time to avoid severe pain, humiliation, and added stress to the patients’ family members. He believed it was the patients’ choice to end their life on their own terms without the government or insurance companies intruding, or a physician’s “keep a patient alive at all costs” mentality. “Lethal injection is now the main method of execution in all but two states due to our desire for the worst of the worst to die in a dignified manner, yet we want the terminally ill to endure suffering, pain, humiliation, and the erosion of their estate without giving them an opportunity to choose the time and method of their death?” Dr. Kevorkian believed a great start for Congress to enact a law providing any terminally ill patient the ability to seek a humane, dignified death by lethal injection.
“Oregon insists that the lethal dose is self-administered, to avoid voluntary euthanasia… Oregon’s law covers only conditions that are terminal. Again, that is too rigid. The criterion for assisting dying should be a patient’s assessment of his suffering, not the nature of his illness.” (The Right to Die)
Current Issues Surrounding Death A hot topic in today’s media and in discussion is the idea of physician assisted suicide and end of life care. There are several legal, ethical, social, and political issues surrounding this idea, which makes it a controversial topic. This paper will discuss some of these issues and explore the idea of physician assisted suicide and end of life care in more detail. Physician assisted suicide is defined as, “suicide by a patient facilitated by means or information (as a drug prescription or indication of the lethal dosage) provided by a physician who is aware of how the patient intends to use such means or information (Merriam-Webster, 2015).
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.
5, 2008, Washington became the second US state to legalize physician-assisted suicide after voters approved a ballot initiative (59% to 41%) to implement the Washington Death with Dignity Act. And in recent years physician-assisted suicide is legal in four US states: Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Vermont. And just two years earlier the US Supreme Court voted 6-3 to uphold the ability of physicians to prescribe lethal doses of controlled substances to terminally ill patients. People have rights as an individual to receive great complete care; and this care includes mind, body and soul. In some ancient cities, it was said that, magistrates kept a supply of poison for anyone who wished to die regardless of religious beliefs.
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
Physician assisted suicide is a current controversial issue that has been debated over since the colonial days of the United States. The Oxford dictionary defines assisted suicide as, “the act of killing himself/herself with help of somebody such as a doctor, especially because he/she is suffering from a disease that has no cure.” Although the definition seems like a doctor can put easily put a suffering patient out of their pain and misery by euthanizing the patient, the concept is much more complex than that. Euthanizing and medically assisting a patient to commit suicide are two completely different things. According to The World Federation of Right to Die Societies, “euthanasia usually means that the physician would act directly, for instance by giving a lethal injection, to end a patient’s life.”
In this case, and many others worldwide, physician assisted suicide is morally permissible at all ages for anyone with a terminal illness with a prognosis of 6 months. This is supported by act based utilitarianism and the idea of maximizing pleasure and reducing pain and suffering on an individual circumstance. By allowing a terminal patient to die a less painful death, in control of the situation, and with dignity, the patient will have amplified