Free Essays on Euthanasia: Assisted Suicide Violates the Physicians' Oath

Assisted Suicide Violates the Physicians' Oath

A patient falls ill in one of Voltaire's philosophical tales and the

author observes: "Despite the attention and ministrations of the leading

medical doctors of Europe, he survived."

This is the sardonic wit we should apply to a debate today: Should a

physician who has sworn to do no harm be allowed, legally, to help a

patient kill himself with prescribed lethal doses of barbiturates? This is

not about Dr. Kevorkian, the infamous Dr. Death, now serving a prison term

for murder. The courts finally would not accept his oxymoronic euphemism

of "assisted suicide." (You can wound the language as well as the person.)

Physicians in Oregon, however, can become doctors of death under state

law, having received the imprimatur of the people in a statewide

referendum. But such doctors still need the help of the feds. Federal law

trumps state law in the administration of drugs under the Controlled

Substances Act, which governs powerful prescription drugs like morphine

that alleviate pain, but which can also kill.

Loophole-lovers, aware of the problem, sought a federal accomplice for

"assisted suicide" in Oregon and found one in Janet Reno, the attorney

general in the Clinton administration. She gave them a pass, promising not

to prosecute. John Ashcroft, who replaced her, has reversed that, and a

federal judge has stayed his decision, at least temporarily.

There are two issues here. One is philosophical in its consideration of

life and death issues. The other is legalistic and constitutional, whether

a state's rights in this matter should supersede federal authority. Like

most of our most complex decisions, liberal and conservative attitudes

conflict and overlap. Black and white reasoning is simplistic and

inadequate. There are shades of gray in both arguments. (There's no

rainbow here.)

Certain professors of medicine argue that when a patient is dying in great

pain, and chooses to end both pain and life, a doctor in good conscience

should be able to relieve the agony and abide by the patient's wishes. But

even if the doctor doesn't intend for a patient to die, he can

accidentally kill if he administers dosages high enough to alleviate

excruciating pain.

Hence, John Ashcroft's policy could make doctors fear prosecution,

curtailing their ability even to prescribe the necessary dosages for pain

medication. Consider what you would want for your mother or father, your