Physician Assisted Suicide Ethical Issues
Introduction People have moral and ethical values that assist them in making decisions about their healthcare on a daily basis. What if a person found out that they had a terminal illness and only had months to live? What if those few months would be filled with treatments, pain and suffering, tear filled family members, and high cost medical bills? Physician- assisted suicide remains a debated topic which causes physicians, nurses and those involved to take a look at what they value and what they are willing to do in order to carry out a patient’s wishes. Physician- assisted suicide can be thought of as helping a patient in carrying out their last days by providing the information and medication needed to end their life. The physician …show more content…
There are populations such as the poor, elderly and minorities that can be taking advantage of and not informed of other options for their life. Vicki D. Lachman writes an article entitled; Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking: An Ethical Alternative to Physician- Assisted Suicide. The author talks about the need to assist dying patients by taking a deeper look into palliative care and providing the patient with the necessities and information about withholding treatment that can save their lives (Lachman, 2015, p. 56). The author of the article expressed her concerns that nurses can play a role in providing patients with the knowledge about voluntary stopping of eating and drinking due to the fact that nurses spend more time communicating with the patients and getting to know them in an intimate fashion (Lachman, 2015, p. 59). The patient’s choice to stop eating and drinking is legal unlike their choice to end their life by taking high doses of lethal …show more content…
Assisted suicide is an ethical issue which is reliant on a person’s values, morals, religion, and experiences. Debated this topic can bring out strong emotions and opinions pulling away from the focus of this paper which was simply to describe view points from both sides of the spectrum. There are many nursing implications that are associated with assisted suicide. Among these is the importance for nurses to be aware of their own beliefs about end-of-life care. Self- awareness will prepare nurses for challenges they will face when dealing with death. An additional implication is that nurses need to be conscious of politics and legal authority. Becoming active in political processes, nurses can work to ensure that they will not be forced into doing procedures that come in direct conflict with their beliefs. Currently there are five states where physician- assisted suicide is legal: Oregon, Montana, Vermont, Washington, and New
Physician-Assisted Suicide Analysis
335 Words | 2 PagesMany times in life we are faced with difficult decisions, but is it you who are making the decisions, or is someone else making the decision for you? When it comes to ending a person’s life, because of a terminal illness, it should be the patient’s decision. Physician-Assisted Suicide or PSA has been an issue for many decades, questioning its morality, and the legal issues it could face if legalized. The history of self-assisted suicide dates back to the Roman and Greeks, where scholars approved of the decision to hasten death due to illness.
Why Is Physician Assisted Suicide Morally Wrong
156 Words | 1 PagesConclusion I have argued that even though a physician killing an untreatable patient and a physician letting a patient die upon their request are both morally justifiable, the distinction between the two regarding the morality of physician assisted suicide is important because they are both justified differently. I have presented two counter arguments based on consequentialism, and argued that both of them untrue. A physician killing an untreatable patient upon their request and letting an untreatable patient die upon their request are both justifiable aspects of physician assisted suicide, and therefore it is not an important distinction to make regarding the moral permissibility of physician assisted suicide. However, it is an important
John Hardwig Is There A Duty To Die
506 Words | 3 PagesThere are many ethical and practical concerns that must be taken into account when considering whether to end a person's life, including questions of autonomy, dignity, and pain management. Simply asserting that some individuals have a duty to die is not enough to address these complex issues, and it fails to take into account the potential for unintended
Physician Assisted Suicide Ethical Dilemma
669 Words | 3 PagesWebster’s dictionary defines suicide as the act of killing yourself because you do not want to continue living. Most cases of suicide in society deal with persons of mental illness who make irrational decisions based on illogical thoughts to end their lives. When speaking of physician assisted suicide, also known as physician aided death, it is not referring to an irrational decision to end one’s life but rather a calculated informed decision to end one’s life due to terminal illness (Starks PhD). Physician aided death is a multilayer issue in which the layers must be peeled away to see the reasons for the decision, the process it involves, and the reasons why this should be allowed in our society.
Physician Assisted Suicide
1168 Words | 5 PagesLife is never guaranteed and whether it is through an illness or an accident, we as humans are eventually going to die. Physicians Assisted suicide is one of the most controversial issues. The issue of doctor-assisted suicide has been the subject of the heated dispute in recent years. While some oppose the idea that a physician should aid in ending a life, others believe that physicians should be permitted in helping a patient to end his or her unbearable suffering when faced with a terminal illness. Furthermore, Physician-assisted suicide should be legal; it should be the patient’s right to decide when and how he or she should die.
Essay On Physician Assisted Suicide
852 Words | 4 PagesPhysician 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.
Should Physician Assisted Suicide Be Legalized Essay
1800 Words | 8 PagesIn order for a patient to receive the prescription for medication, a physician must declare the patient to be terminally ill, which means they have an incurable and irreversible illness, and they must have no more than six months to live. Also, a second doctor must agree with the first doctor. In addition, the terminally ill patient has to be mentally competent and able to administer the medication themself (“Threat” A12). These rules act as safeguards to ensure that the patient requesting aid in dying is making an informed decision and is acting voluntarily (Gopal
Case Study Advance Directives
815 Words | 4 PagesNursing’s Role in Assisted Suicide | Notes from the Nurses ' Station. Retrieved from http://www.rncentral.com/blog/2012/nursings-role-in-assisted-suicide/ Short Definitions of Ethical Principles and Theories Familiar words, what do they mean? (n.d.). Retrieved from
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522 Words | 3 PagesPatients 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 Argumentative Essay
1228 Words | 5 PagesMany people think that there are too many problems with physician assisted suicide. Physician assisted suicide is a procedure that allows physicians to prescribe their patients a lethal medication that they can inject themselves with in order to die on their own terms. There are specific requirements that the patients must meet in order to receive this medication. Physician assisted suicide is only for patients that have life threatening illnesses and do not have much time left to live. It is legal in numerous places around the world including certain places in the United States.
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1087 Words | 5 PagesBy keeping a patient who is in a vegetative state alive, thousands of dollars in medical bills are piling up that will become stressful for the patient’s family to pay off (Coster 16). The medicine required for euthanasia on average cost less than fifty dollars, whereas medical care can cost over a thousand times more (Coster 21). If a patient has written their request for euthanasia in their living will, then they should be granted their wishes and rights. In contrast, opponents of euthanasia argue that doctors should not practice euthanasia, even if the patient has requested it through their living will. Opponents claim that a healthy person cannot fathom how they would feel on their deathbed
Ethical Issues Surrounding Euthanasia
951 Words | 4 Pages1,672). A huge theme that society has seen in regards to euthanasia is the physician’s role. Physicians have been seen as murderers for assisting the death of their patients and they have been referred to as mercy-killers. However, many people tend to disregard the fact that even the physician, who is usually the one being blamed, can actually be the victim as well. According to the American Medical Association’s Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs, it was stated that “although life-prolonging medical treatment may be withheld, the physician should not intentionally cause death” (as cited in Dickinson, Clark, Winslow & Marples, 2005, p. 44).
The Pros And Cons Of Assisted Suicide
1795 Words | 8 PagesAssisted suicide, also known as euthanasia, is a controversial topic that has sparked many debates in different societies across the globe. The issue revolves around whether it is ethical or not to end a person's life with the help of another person or by providing the means for the person to end their own life. Some people believe that assisted suicide is justified because it helps to alleviate the suffering of terminally ill patients, while others argue that it goes against the sanctity of human life and the Hippocratic Oath taken by healthcare professionals. In this essay, I will explore the arguments for and against assisted suicide, examining various perspectives on the issue and drawing a conclusion on whether it is justified or not.
Deontological Ethics: The Ethical Ethics Of Assisted Suicide
1252 Words | 6 PagesAssisted 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.
Ethical Issues In Grey's Anatomy
1736 Words | 7 PagesThe dying patient no longer has quality of life, they have lost their independence, are lonely, are forced to endure inevitable pain, are publicly humiliated, are suffering immensely, and are forced to watch their loved ones grieve because of them. It is an innate Constitutional Right to choose how to die, since we all will die. There comes a point when the poking and prodding becomes too much, when the patient wants to just die in silence in the loving arms of their
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