Preview

Physician Assisted Suicide: Good or Bad Essay Example

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1256 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Physician Assisted Suicide: Good or Bad Essay Example
Physician Assisted Suicide-The Debate Physicians and patients debate over whether or not physician assisted suicide is okay to do in any circumstances, because there are pros and cons to every side. One might say that if a physician assists in the suicide it may help someone not suffer through a slow painful death. Another person might argue that if a physician does assist even by just prescribing the medicine is morally wrong and against the oath the physician takes at the beginning of his or her career. Understanding some people are terminally ill and want to just die versus putting up the fight is a hard situation to understand, but some physicians do “understand”. Even though they understand does not mean that they will agree to assist in taking the pain away from someone. On the other hand a patient may want to live as long as possible and prosper every bit of their life even if it means being in a vegetative state.
According to the article “Assisted “Suicide is the Euthanasia of Hope” this patient “was dying from ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease.(cited in Smith, 2011 para 3). “He had been suicidal for 2 ½ years after the solar plexus blow of his diagnosis” (cited in Smith, 2011 para 4). This shows that a terminal illness can effect a person’s will to live as well as their thinking on how things can work out if you just hang tough and wait out the storm, so to speak. Our text states that, “The argument is straightforward: A person is 99% certain to die within a certain time, but before that death naturally occurs, the patient is kept alive only to suffer” (Mosser, 2010, section 2.3, para 34), but this is only one option. On the other hand “life is a gift from God and precious. To end it prematurely is to reject that gift.” (Cited in Mosser, 2010, section 2.3, para 35). In ending your life prematurely a person must face their religious beliefs consequences. Each belief comes with incentives and consequences, but those might be a thing that can be changed or

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    There are times when life takes an unforeseen route, and one is faced with an obstacle or situation that was not expected. Many people are diagnosed with terminal diseases, have accidents and are left with severe impairments, and suffer horrendous complications from medical issues. One has the right, according to law, to make medical decisions about their care and treatment options. But should one have the right to end their life? Assisted, or voluntary euthanasia, is the direct administration of a lethal agent to end one’s life at the request of…

    • 1466 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    On the other hand, opponents of physician suicide argue it would violate the doctor's’ hippocratic oath to “do no harm.” But is making a patient lie in a hospital bed suffering actually not doing any harm? They also argue on a more religions moral that if you commit suicide, you are going to hell. Some individuals are not religious at all, and therefore would not care. Another viewpoint of opponents is they believe doctors will be given too much power if assisted suicide is made legal. However, there is a fallacy in that argument as well. Physician assisted suicide is completed by the patient. Meaning doctors would only be able to write the prescription. Not actually force the patient to take the medication.…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As a doctor, you swear to an oath that is to provide lifesaving medical care and to try and extend life comfortably, the best way you can. In “Physician-Assisted Suicide Is Always Wrong” Ryan T. Anderson states why a physician assisting in a terminally ill patient’s death is ethically and morally wrong. This article that I chose was published on Newsweek on March 26, 2015, but first appeared on The Daily Signal. As the article describes what and how this particular approach works, it goes in great detail to explain why it should not even be an option for physicians.…

    • 1073 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Not all terminally ill patients will choose this option, but it should be available for those who want it. Coping with the diagnosis of a terminal illness is difficult for both the patient and the patient’s loved ones and it only becomes more difficult as the disease progresses. Being given the ability to decide when to die allows the patient to feel a sense of dignity and control during a time when he or she may not have control over anything else in life. Not only does physician-assisted suicide provide a sense of relief to the patient, it provides relief to family and friends. Watching a loved one die is one of the most challenging things to endure in life. It only becomes more challenging when forced to watch a loved one die a slow and painful death. Physician-assisted suicide can provide closure to everyone involved in a situation dealing with a terminal illness; therefore, it must become legal in all fifty…

    • 575 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many people have different opinions on Physician assisted suicide like if it is inhuman and if the illness can affect the patient's ability to make decisions.. Many people debate whether terminally ill patients should have the choice of suicide. Whether people think it is good or bad, many terminally ill patients do not want to suffer and feel they are being forced to die a slow and painful death.…

    • 485 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A patient should have the liberty of choosing to end their suffering. Although, it may see has an extreme option, is an option the patient should have the right. However, some doctor think that Physician-Assisted Suicide goes against the oath they made. According to the article” Doctor-Assisted Suicide Pros and Cons List”, one of the con of this practice is “Violates the Hippocratic Oath”. Which was that every life is sacred, therefore, commanding respect. So, just because the patients give permission, doesn’t make killing right. Still, by respecting the patient’s wishes and taking him/her out of his/her misery, the doctor is respecting their life. Physician-Assisted Suicide helps the patients in many different ways like being prepare or ending their suffering. Physician-assisted Suicide helps them retain their dignity. Terminally ill, coma, or mentally competent patients are suffering every day. For some, the pain is so much, that they don’t consider themselves “living”. Physician-assisted suicide help patients properly said goodbye to their love ones at their own pace and at their own comfort. It gives them the opportunity to be surrounded by the people they love and the things they love. An article called “Doctor-Assisted Suicide Pros and Cons List” by Nyln.org, it stated that “Physician-Assisted Suicide makes grief easier to handle” (Nyln). Since, everyone its inform of the patient’s…

    • 904 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Physicians assisted suicide can be defined as the voluntary termination of one's own life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician (Snyder 2001). In order to truly explore the ethical dilemma of physicians assisted suicide we must first understand and grasp the base meaning of the term, as well as let go of any prior misconceptions we may have surrounding the topic. The process of physician-assisted suicide is different than you might imagine. Before I had researched this topic I had the inaccurate impression that physician assisted suicide was a procedure similar to that which you would imagine for an animal being put down or euthanized. As many of us unfamiliar with the topic might believe,…

    • 1407 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Since ancient times, it has long been debated if physician assisted suicide should be legal and if it is moral. In ancient Greece and Rome there were doctors who administered poison to assist ill patients. In the 4th century, Hippocrates declared he would never give a deadly drug to anyone nor suggest it (ProQuest). There have always been supporters and many valid arguments for both sides of this debate.…

    • 1517 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The topic of Physician Assisted Suicide has become a well-known issue. But the fact is, for terminally ill and for those that cannot recover, Physician assisted suicide is not completely misguided. It gives those who are in a lot of pain a chance to save their loved ones the torment of seeing them so feeble. It also strengthens the possibility of saving those who can still be saved.…

    • 523 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Physician-assisted suicide is currently a hotly debate issue within the United States government. Physician-assisted suicide is defined as when “a physician assists a patient in dying by writing a prescription for a legal dose of a drug that the patient self-administers.” (Behuniak & Svenson, 2003). Physician-assisted suicide is illegal on a federal level, however; the practice has been legalized within 6 states: California, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and Montana (Author, 2017). The practice of physician-assisted suicide is flawed in several aspects. Firstly, it places people of a lower socioeconomic class and people that suffer from mental illnesses at a greater risk. Secondly, physician-assisted suicide degrades the sanctity of life. Lastly, physician-assisted suicide is exploited by insurance companies as a way to cut costs, because medication for a lethal-dose prescription costs less money than the care of a patient over several months or years. Physician-assisted suicide is a…

    • 1132 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Around the world, some people take it upon to themselves to help their friends and families. The help they think they are doing is actually harm. If a person tries to help their family or friend end their life, it is murder. No matter the circumstances, a person killing another person is murder. If murder is deemed unlawful, physician-assisted suicide should be, too. There is no difference in a family member and a doctor wanting to end a person’s suffering. Both of these people are taking a life. There are some people in this world that would try to become a doctor, or pose as one, to be able to kill people. If physician-assisted suicide is illegal, more than likely this would not happen and somehow go unnoticed. It would be considered fine to do such a…

    • 971 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There is always a choice of physician-assisted suicide if the patient is breathing and of sound mind. Moreover, a patient having a less than ten percent chance of living, physician-assisted suicide should be an option. Physicians are healers of disease and injury, preservers of life, and relievers of suffering. Determining the ethical responsibilities of physicians when patients wish to die requires a close examination of the doctor’s role in society (JAMA, 1992-vol 267, No. 16).…

    • 1012 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Even though many believe that Physician assisted suicide should be legalized because it allows one to make their own choice of when to die, as well as dying with dignity. It also allows better care because of all the rules and regulations. Doctors also need to learn to handle the fact that they helped someone die. That is something that can be difficult to accept and sometimes gets to be too much for the doctor to handle. They also need to be able to handle the situation…

    • 1974 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Every day, you lie in bed in physical and mental anguish. You are caged inside of your body; you cannot perform simple tasks like feeding yourself or using the restroom. No matter how hard you try, you cannot move or talk. Almost everything you participate in during the day cannot be done without your assistant. You are completely conscious and awake, but you are paralyzed and unable to speak. This is how a person with Locked-in syndrome lives. Locked-in syndrome is a terminal illness that currently affects about 50,000 individuals in the United States alone. People who have this symptom and other incurable sicknesses may lose the desire to live. Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) would help relieve a patient’s suffering. Physician-assisted suicide should be legalized for those who are terminally ill and/or no longer have the desire to live.…

    • 993 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Terminal illnesses cause great pain and suffering. For example here are some words from Andy Whelan, “...we as parents could offer no comfort - Jessica pushing us away as she rode out her searing pain in solitude...her body stiffened and her face contorted in pain.” (Zhang). Mrs. Whelan’s daughter Jessica Whelan was only four years old when she was diagnosed. Jessica had a form of cancer called neuroblastoma and had been fighting cancer for 13 months. In November she was given just a few weeks to live and later died due to cancer. Patients should be allowed to have doctor-assisted suicides because they should have the right to die and end their suffering, but some people are against the legalization because they believe they will make the…

    • 675 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays