In 5th century BCE, a Greek philosopher named Hippocrates wrote the phrase “I will not give a drug that is deadly to anyone if asked [for it], nor will suggest the ways to such a counsel”(Miles, 2004). This passage is apart of a written document that is now known as the Hippocratic Oath (Appendix A). The philosophers of ancient Greece were aware of the medical predicaments that a physician would ultimately face while practicing medicine. Today, the oath has become an ethical code for the physicians to uphold and apply in their profession. Why is this phrase important enough to be included in this document? Some view this passage as the code that prohibits physicians from lending their abilities for the executions of prisoners. Others believe that his passage was written to prevent physicians from using their knowledge for murders. However, I believe that this passage was included into the oath in order to refrain the physicians from using their “techné” for the purpose of physician-assisted suicide. Physician- assisted suicide or euthanasia is not a novel idea in today’s society. Thus, it was not a coincident that Hippocrates imperatively specified this issue in his oath. The respect for the human life is clearly delineated by the oath yet some physicians still assist patients in ending their lives today. Is assisting someone in ending his or her own life unethical and against the Hippocratic Oath? Consequently, I have to address this baffling issue and attempt to answer this crucial question.
Euthanasia is a Greek word meaning a “good death” (Schiavo, 2011). This word is usually referred to the manner of ending an individual’s life in relief of pain and suffering. Although some people may disagree, euthanasia and physician-assi...
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... myself and use my knowledge in a godly manner.
I will not cut for the stone, but will commit that affair entirely to the surgeons.
Whatsoever house I may enter, my visit shall be for the convenience and advantage of the patient; and I will willingly refrain from doing any injury or wrong from falsehood, and (in an especial manner) from acts of an amorous nature, whatever may be the rank of those who it may be my duty to cure, whether mistress or servant, bond or free.
Whatever, in the course of my practice, I may see or hear (even when not invited), whatever I may happen to obtain knowledge of, if it be not proper to repeat it, I will keep sacred and secret within my own breast.
If I faithfully observe this oath, may I thrive and prosper in my fortune and profession, and live in the estimation of posterity; or on breach thereof, may the reverse be my fate![4]
Once physician- assisted suicide (PAS) is legalized, the Oath doctors take would be infringed upon. Allen states “Physician-assisted suicide is viewed as the most controversial types of euthanasia because it violates the Hippocratic Oath” (15). The oath consists of the doctors promising to keep the patients’ health and well-being first and try their best to keep their patients’ lives long and healthy until it is naturally their time to leave the world. (Allen 15). It is obviously a violation of the oath when doctors aid in the death of their patients. They do not help the patients pr...
———. "A surgeon's code of behaviour and ethics, c. 1376." English Historical Documents. Accessed December 8, 2013. http://www.historystudycenter.com/search/displaySuitemPageImageItemById.do?UseMapping=SuitemPageImage&QueryName=suitem&ItemID=10648&resource=ehd&imageNumber=4&scale=100.
The word Euthanasia comes from the Greek and means “good death” (http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/hp.asp) and in the range of this paper, it will be called physician assisted suicide or “active” euthanasia. The definition of “active” euthanasia is ending one’s life yourself or with aid of a doctor. It can be done in various different ways; however, the most common form is with a combination of drugs, usually given by a physician. ( http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/hp.asp) The reason Physician Assisted Suicide (or PAS) is an important issue in this country and around the world is that there are many people out there suffering from debilitating, incurable and intensely painful diseases that would like to end their lives with dignity and without suffering. (Leo & Lein, 2010, The Value of a Planned Death)
The issue at hand is whether physician-assisted suicide should be legalized for patients who are terminally ill and/or enduring prolonged suffering. In this debate, the choice of terms is central. The most common term, euthanasia, comes from the Greek words meaning "good death." Sidney Hook calls it "voluntary euthanasia," and Daniel C. Maguire calls it "death by choice," but John Leo calls it "cozy little homicides." Eileen Doyle points out the dangers of a popular term, "quality-of-life." The choice of terms may serve to conceal, or to enhance, the basic fact that euthanasia ends a human life. Different authors choose different terms, depending on which side of the issue they are defending.
Ethical decisions are being made by terminally ill patients as they face death. Some are choosing to end life through PAS, physician-assisted suicide. Dr. Jack Kevorkian has been helping patients end life through his machines. The public opinion is the use of this machine is considered murder, but some have changed their thinking and created laws to make it legal for a physician to help a terminally ill patient die. Physician assisted suicide is a dignified way to end life.
Even since ancient times, it was recognized that doctors had power over their patients, and that there must be ethical implications coming with this responsibility. This was first represented in the Hippocratic Oath, which was created by an Ancient Gree...
Did you know, about 57% of physicians today have received a request for physician assisted suicide due to suffering from a terminally ill patient. Suffering has always been a part of human existence, and these requests have been occurring since medicine has been around. Moreover, there are two principles that all organized medicine agree upon. The first one is physicians have a responsibility to relieve pain and suffering of dying patients in their care. The second one is physicians must respect patients’ competent decisions to decline life-sustaining treatment. Basically, these principles state the patients over the age of 18 that are mentally stable have the right to choose to end their life if they are suffering from pain. As of right now, Oregon, Washington, and Vermont have legalized physician assisted suicide through legislation. Montana has legalized it via court ruling. The first Death with Dignity Act (DWDA) became effective in Oregon in 1997. Washington and Vermont later passed this act in 2009, and Montana passed the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act in 2008. One concern with physician assisted suicide is confusion of the patient’s wishes. To get rid of any confusion and provide evidence in case someone becomes terminally ill, people should make an advanced care plan. The two main lethal drugs that are used during physician assisted suicide are secobarbital and pentobarbital. Appropriate reporting is necessary when distributing these drugs and performing the suicide in order to publish an analysis. Studies found a large number of people accepted this procedure under certain circumstances; therefore, physician assisted suicide should be legal in the United States because terminally ill patients over the age of 18 that are...
EX1 Moreover, a good example of the irrelevance of the Oath in modern medics is the statement that a doctor may never “use the knife”, without using knifes, practicing modern surgery would be impossible (Markel, 2004). CR2 In the most Oaths administered by US medical schools, the parts about euthanasia are simply omitted, EV2 by 1993 only 14 percent of the vows taken by students prohibited euthanasia (Markel, 2004), IC this demonstrates that even if the Hippocratic Oath is the moral touchstone of physicians, most Oaths taken by students do not even prohibit euthanasia. CR3 Sometimes in order to safeguard the mysterious power and dignity of life, it is better to administer a soft death to avoid further suffering, EV3 this is also literally stated in the Hippocratic Oath: “I will keep my patients from harm and injustice”(Edelstein, 1967). C Considering all of the reasons mentioned above, the Hippocratic Oath has clearly lost its relevance regarding the prohibition of
The idea of Physician-Assisted suicide is one that carries many misconceptions and comes with much opposition. Of these opponents, many are doctors and nurses. This opposition is deeply rooted in the belief that the practice of medicine is one that has the sole purpose to increase the quality of life for people and to prolong life. These beliefs are rooted in the Hippocratic Oath, an Oath that all doctors promise to uphold. The Hippocratic Oath proclaims that “I will give no deadly medicine to anyone if asked, nor suggest any such counsel” ("The End of Life: Ethical Considerations"). This Oath is a major reason for many nurses and doctors opposing the practice; however, it is not the only source for opposition. In addition to the Hippocratic...
Physician assisted suicide should be a choice of the patient in Florida. There has long been a debate on Physician assisted suicide in the state of Florida, and in many other US states. The government has the burden on whether to pass an initiative on allowing physician assisted suicide. The Right to die initiative is decided on a state by state basis.
As precious as life is to come in to this world, there is debate about whether life going out of this world should hold the same amount of pricelessness, happiness, and peace in cases of the terminally ill with no chance of long-term survival. This deliberation of whether physician assisted suicide should be permitted is a major medical ethical concern, however, as a future nurse, this argument does not have a place in modern medicine. In the following sections, the ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, and nonmaleficence are discussed with regard to the patient’s best interest and the personal views and opinions of a prospective nurse.
The discussion of physician-assisted suicide is frequently focused around the ethical implications. The confusion commonly surfaces from the simple question, what is physician-assisted suicide? Physician-assisted suicide can be defined as a circumstance in which a medical physician provides a lethal dose of medication to a patient with a fatal illness. In this case, the patient has given consent, as well as direction, to the physician to ethically aid in their death (Introduction to Physician-Assisted Suicide: At Issue,
Euthanasia is the act of ending a person’s life through lethal injection or through the removement of treatment. Euthanasia comes from the Greek word meaning “good death.” When a death ends peacefully, it is recognized as a good death. In modern society, euthanasia has come to mean a death free of any pain and anxiety brought on through the use of medication; this can also be called mercy killing, deliberately ending someone’s life in order to end an individual’s suffering. Anything that would ease human suffering is good. Euthanasia eases human suffering. Therefore, euthanasia is good. Because active euthanasia is considered as suicide or murder, it is a very controversial issue and therefore, illegal in most places. Although there are always
"I will never give a deadly drug to anybody if asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect". A frequent quoted portion of the Hippocratic Oath, written in Greece sometimes during the fifth to forth centuries B.C.E, represented an effort by an apparently small group of physicians to build public respectability by distancing themselves from other physicians who commit assisted suicide. It has had considerable influence in the history of Western medical society and now, once again, physician-assisted suicide has become a major ethical issue in medicine, as well as an issue that involves law and public interests. Of the various issues at the medicine issue, perhaps none has drawn as much attention as assisted suicide. This topic is being discussed with great frequency in newspaper, journals and books about whether it is really necessary and ethical to physicians to participate in this life-ending act. Proponents or advocates of physician-assisted suicide argue that each person has freedom over their own life. Persons whose quality of life is nonexistent and who are having a terminal illness should have the right to decide to seek assistance. In contrast, opponents say that physician-assisted suicide is not an acceptable practice for the physicians legally as well as morally.
In order to provide a framework for my thesis statement on the morality of euthanasia, it is first necessary to define what euthanasia is and the different types of euthanasia. The term Euthanasia originates from the Greek term “eu”, meaning happy or good and “thanatos”, which means death, so the literal definition of the word Euthanasia can be translated to mean “good or happy death”.