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Physician assisted suicide research paper
Physician assisted suicide research paper
Physician assisted suicide research paper
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Many people in our modern era want to be in control of everything as much as they could, especially with their own body. Due to the United States, an unprecedented increase of aging demographics many more people are living longer and reaching older ages than before. As the vast majority, will face a period of prolonged deteriorating health prior to death, a longer life is not necessarily a better life (Black, K., & Csikai, E. 2015). Would a better life involve making the decision of a person deciding when to end their life or prolong their life? This is an issue that comes up repeatedly in culture war debates, whether people possess their own bodies and have the right to do what they will with them. There are those that want to regulate what …show more content…
Foremost, dying threatens one’s autonomy and independence; two highly-regarded values in U.S. society” (Black, K., & Csikai, E. 2015). These are one of the many reasons why people want to control how they want to die and when to die because many people are afraid not to be in control. Many people intend to stay “in charge” at the end of their lives but the loss of autonomous decision-making in the latter stages of a deteriorating illness is common (Black, K., & Csikai, E. 2015). This idea is always on everybody mind and the reality of death is an ugly truth. It sad because many people at a later age cannot decide for themselves and their level of thinking is not going to be the same. Then, they count on their loved ones to make that decision for them and lose autonomy. In one study, “it was estimated that 40% of adults who aware admitted to acute care hospitals were incapable of making personal treatment decisions due to unconsciousness, cognitive impairment, or the inability to express their desires” (Black, K., & Csikai, E. 2015). No matter how much control a person may wish, this study claims that things just happens and we don’t have a lot of control with this kind of
Assisted suicide and euthanasia is a controversial issue all over the world, and it leads to debate as to whether or not an individual should be allowed to decide the moment and form of one’s death, along with the
The thought of death is a scary one. However the scarier thought is “living” a life in pain and suffering from an incurable and terminal disease such as cancer or Alzheimer’s. Imagine your grandparent has recently been diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung cancer. Now the doctor will list off all the possible treatments and in your heart you want your grandparent to try everything to fight for their life. After hearing the doctor give the terrible news, your grandparent ask the doctor about some options but also mentions assisted death. Your mind floods with memories and arguments against it. Your grandparent explains how they have lived a full life, doesn’t want to put the family in debt from the medical bills along with the inevitable cost of a funeral and have
Anyone can be diagnosed with a terminal illness. It doesn’t matter how healthy you are, who you are, or what you do. Some terminal illnesses you can prevent by avoiding unhealthy habits, eating healthily, exercising regularly and keeping up with vaccinations. However some terminally ill people cannot be helped, their diseases cannot be cured and the only thing possible to help them, besides providing pain relieving medication, is to make them as comfortable as possible while enduring their condition. Many times the pharmaceuticals do not provide the desired pain escape, and cause patients to seek immediate relief in methods such as euthanasia. Euthanasia is the practice of deliberately ending a life in order to alleviate pain and suffering, but is deemed controversial because many various religions believe that their creators are the only ones that should decide when their life’s journey should reach its end. Euthanasia is performed by medical doctors or physicians and is the administration of a fatal dose of a suitable drug to the patient on his or her express request. Although the majority of American states oppose euthanasia, the practice would result in more good as opposed to harm. The patient who is receiving the euthanizing medication would be able to proactively choose their pursuit of happiness, alleviate themselves from all of the built up pain and suffering, relieve the burden they may feel they are upon their family, and die with dignity, which is the most ethical option for vegetative state and terminally ill patients. Euthanasia should remain an alternative to living a slow and painful life for those who are terminally ill, in a vegetative state or would like to end their life with dignity. In addition, t...
End of Life Care involves choices such as hospice some instances, if that is what the patient chooses. Hospice involves that of palliative care, where health care professionals instead of treating the illness treat the patient they help to keep them comfortable and eliminate pain (Allender, Rector & Warner 2010). The choice of a patient’s end of life care is often considered after the diagnosis of a terminal illness, and the patient is able to decide how they would like to spend the rest of their days. Adolescence is characterized by a time of growing and finding ones self, which makes the debate about whether or not an adolescent should be able to make a decision about their own health care.
One is a fear of uncontrolled pain. Another is fear of abandonment, of being left alone to die and feeling there is no one to care. The third is concern over financial pressures that may leave a family devastated by the last illness. Hospice addresses these concerns as quickly in the disease process as is possible, and hospice workers everywhere will tell the public that when these issues are under control, the desire to end one's life becomes a non-issue. Hospice workers dedicate their professional and often their personal lives to successfully resolving those issues. The hospice community is very concerned that the legalization of
Death is something that people are going to experience in their lifetime. Emanuel believes that “ After 75 we are no longer remembered as vibrant and engaged but as feeble, ineffectual, even pathetic” (3). Everything changes after a person turn 75, because a study by Eileen Crimmins from the University of Southern California shows that “as people age, there is a progressive erosion of physical functioning; from 1998 throughout 2006, the loss of functional mobility in the elderly has increased and Crimmins concludes that there was an increase in the life expectancy with disease and a decrease in the years without disease. The same is true for functioning loss, an increase in expected years unable to function” (Emanuel “Why I hope to die at 75” 5). Even if a person decides to live longer than 75 years old that person will experience lack of mobility
We all had moments where we think of how we are going to die or what is going to happen to us in the end. We all hope that we die from living a happy and healthy lifestyle. People think of the what ifs as from getting diagnosed with a terminal disease or something worse. I myself think of dying in peace and with happiness. I also hope to die in my sleep with no pain and being peaceful with what I have done with my life. Some people who are sick with a terminally ill disease will want to probably die in peace and with no pain so that’s where the option of death comes into play. Those that don’t have the option have their family but sometimes the family isn’t enough as to say what can happen to their loved one. I think that’s where the choice
Some laws allow patients to choose whether they want to choose death or choose to stay on life support. In the Right-to-Die prin...
One of the many concerns is allowing incompetent individuals making this irreversible decision, which is why, “all have agreed that this end-of-life option should apply on to competent individual’s”(113). In addition, people opposed to this method argue that patients demanding this process are suffering from depression and not able to make decisions; yet, Rosenfled explains that practitioners most ensure that patients who consent to this medical intervention do it voluntarily, knowingly and
In What Dying People Want, Kuhl comments, "Dying involves choice"(xviii). People choose what they wear, what they do, and what they will eat on a day to day basis. Choosing how, when, or why sick people die is just like an everyday decision for them. This however, has not been accomplished by some individuals in this Country. Americans have the right of choice. When a patient communicates the desire to die, the inspection of acceptability for palliative care begins instantly. Inspections include evaluation of pain management, depression, anxiety, family burnout, spirituality and other observed issues (Baird and Rosenbaum 100). When working or living with an elder, never ignore the words "I want to die". If this is ignored, that person will not receive their wishes they deserve. Countries are starting to understand that people should be able to die if they choose, "In the United States there are assisted dying laws restricted to terminally ill and mentally competent adults" (Firth). The assisted dying law is only in Oregon, Montana, Washington, Vermont, and California. That is five states out of fifty states. This must be expanded to all fifty states because all individuals have the right of this law. In 2013, Vermont passed an "End of Life Choices" bill. This bill allows terminally ill people to get
The care of patients at the end of their live should be as humane and respectful to help them cope with the accompanying prognosis of the end of their lives. The reality of this situation is that all too often, the care a patient receives at the end of their life is quite different and generally not performed well. The healthcare system of the United States does not perform well within the scope of providing the patient with by all means a distress and pain free palliative or hospice care plan. To often patients do not have a specific plan implemented on how they wish to have their end of life care carried out for them. End of life decisions are frequently left to the decision of family member's or physicians who may not know what the patient needs are beforehand or is not acting in the patient's best wishes. This places the unenviable task of choosing care for the patient instead of the patient having a carefully written out plan on how to carry out their final days. A strategy that can improve the rate of care that patients receive and improve the healthcare system in general would be to have the patient create a end of life care plan with their primary care physician one to two years prior to when the physician feels that the patient is near the end of their life. This would put the decision making power on the patient and it would improve the quality of care the patient receives when they are at the end of their life. By developing a specific care plan, the patient would be in control of their wishes on how they would like their care to be handled when the time of death nears. We can identify strengths and weakness with this strategy and implement changes to the strategy to improve the overall system of care with...
As patients come closer to the end of their lives, certain organs stop performing as well as they use to. People are unable to do simple tasks like putting on clothes, going to the restroom without assistance, eat on our own, and sometimes even breathe without the help of a machine. Needing to depend on someone for everything suddenly brings feelings of helplessness much like an infant feels. It is easy to see why some patients with terminal illnesses would seek any type of relief from this hardship, even if that relief is suicide. Euthanasia or assisted suicide is where a physician would give a patient an aid in dying. “Assisted suicide is a controversial medical and ethical issue based on the question of whether, in certain situations, Medical practioners should be allowed to help patients actively determine the time and circumstances of their death” (Lee). “Arguments for and against assisted suicide (sometimes called the “right to die” debate) are complicated by the fact that they come from very many different points of view: medical issues, ethical issues, legal issues, religious issues, and social issues all play a part in shaping people’s opinions on the subject” (Lee). Euthanasia should not be legalized because it is considered murder, it goes against physicians’ Hippocratic Oath, violates the Controlled
Preparing for Death A lack of preparation for our deaths is a serious problem whether it is because we don’t know the exact time or just don’t want to face death. In an article in Time magazine by John Cloud he writes “We will spend more time getting ready for two weeks away from work than we will for our last two weeks on earth” (Cloud,2000,p.60). We should prepare for our deaths to show our wishes concerning treatment and life support, as well as other aspects. We should make choices while we are still well, so that we are treated properly before we die.
The purpose of this essay is to analyse various theories on ageing, death, dying, and end of life issues from different perspectives such as: biophysiological theories, psychosocial theories; and taking in consideration the cultural, historical, and religious implications around the aforementioned life stages. One will also discuss important issues relevant to social work practice such as dignity, autonomy, and their relationship with the concept of a successful ageing and a good death. One considers these areas important since they upheld anti-discriminatory practice and may perhaps promote the development of personalised care pathways, as well as fair and justifiable social policies.
Today, medical interventions have made it possible to save or prolong lives, but should the process of dying be left to nature? (Brogden, 2001). Phrases such as, “killing is always considered murder,” and “while life is present, so is hope” are not enough to contract with the present medical knowledge in the Canadian health care system, which is proficient of giving injured patients a chance to live, which in the past would not have been possible (Brogden, 2001). According to Brogden, a number of economic and ethical questions arise concerning the increasing elderly population. This is the reason why the Canadian society ought to endeavor to come to a decision on what is right and ethical when it comes to facing death. Uhlmann (1998) mentions that individuals’ attitudes towards euthanasia differ. From a utilitarianism point of view – holding that an action is judged as good or bad in relation to the consequence, outcome, or end result that is derived from it, and people choosing actions that will, in a given circumstance, increase the overall good (Lum, 2010) - euthanasia could become a means of health care cost containment, and also, with specific safeguards and in certain circumstances the taking of a human life is merciful and that all of us are entitled to end our lives when we see fit.