Preview

Physician Assisted Suicide Ethics

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1418 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Physician Assisted Suicide Ethics
Most individuals, especially those fond of medical dramas, know of the Hippocratic Oath and its primary obligation of doing no harm; however, the vow physicians take before graduating medical school is being challenged by physician assisted suicide, also known as PAS. Individuals diagnosed with a terminal illness that causes pain and suffering towards the end of life will pick a date to painlessly die before their disease progresses too far. As this practice becomes more widespread, arguments over the ethics of medical doctors aiding in the suicide of their ill patients have erupted. Some argue that in doing so, doctors violate the Hippocratic Oath while stripping the patient of their personal autonomy. Those who support the decision to commit …show more content…
According to an activist organization, Death with Dignity, Oregon was the first state to pass legislation allowing physicians to prescribe a killing dose of barbiturates in 1994. The most recent state to pass a similar act was Vermont in 2013 (Death with Dignity). These acts, also found in California, Colorado, and Washington, allow mentally competent adult residents with a terminal illness to apply for an oral barbiturate that they must be able to self-administer (Death with Dignity). While the Death with Dignity laws provide a physician with legal backing to administer a means to commit suicide, it is up to the individual doctor’s discretion to exert this right (Death with Dignity). Some may choose to deny their patients PAS as a possible treatment due to personal discomfort with the process or because they are employed by an organization that disagrees for religious reasons (Death with Dignity). It should be noted that eligible participants in PAS cannot just ask for medication, they must complete various forms, often including a psychological evaluation, and a mandatory waiting period (Death with Dignity). Once this process is completed, the patient is provided a barbiturate that they self-administer which causes them to fall asleep and, within twelve hours, die (Death with Dignity). Physician assisted suicide is a completely voluntary choice for those …show more content…
In her article, “Thank God Hippocrates Was Pagan”, Jennifer Lahl comments that many non-secular arguments against PAS are mostly ignored; however, arguments regarding the fairness of Death with Dignity laws are strong contenders over the debate regarding PAS (40). She questions whether it is right that only those who are terminally ill can legally end their suffering when others cannot since they are not terminal (Lahl 41). Her contention should be acknowledged when considering possible solutions since one of the pro-PAS arguments is that personal autonomy allows for choice. Another article, a critique written by Manne Sjöstrand, Gert Helgesson, Stefan Eriksson, and Niklas Juth, analyzes two anti-PAS points of view (226). Though Sjöstrand et al. do not argue against PAS, their analysis of protesters’ arguments contribute an unbiased overview of justifications the protesters provide regarding their stance (229). One argument considers autonomy to be a prudential value which should not be compromised by actions that prevent future autonomy, such as suicide (Sjöstrand et al. 227). The other, referred to as the Kantian argument, claims that suicide undermines the value of one’s person (Sjöstrand et al. 228). Where supporters of PAS believe personal autonomy grants patients the freedom the commit suicide, protesters believe the same personal autonomy should be

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Best Essays

    Central Theme: To persuade my audience that physician-assisted suicide should be an option offered to terminally ill patients.…

    • 1705 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Physician Assisted Suicide seems will always be an ethical issue in the medical community. People are either for it or against it. A few weeks ago during the election, the state of Massachusetts voted to allow this issue. This did not pass. Physician Assisted Suicide can come in two forms; the doctor administering medication or the doctor giving the medication to the patient. Both are considered going against the law of upholding a person’s life. Physician Assisted Suicide should not be performed; it is illegal except in one state (Oregon) and goes against the Hippocratic Oath that a doctor recites when they pass the medical boards. It is just wrong to perform this act.…

    • 884 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Physician Assisted Suicide

    • 2492 Words
    • 10 Pages

    In the medical field there are massive amounts of treatments for various diseases. Some treatments are going to help the patient feel more comfortable; however, some are going to counteract the problem, and others are going to help kill the patient. Physician assisted suicide is defined by medterms.com as “the voluntary termination of one 's own life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician.” Any person wishing to undergo assisted suicide in Oregon must be at least 18 years of age and have a terminal illness. This illness must be within its final stages and leave the patient with less than six months to live. Within these six months a patient can request the treatment, but must orally request twice, and provide a written request once as well. In order to receive this treatment, however, a second physician must give a second opinion on the length the patient has to live. In her article, “Physician-Assisted Suicide: Compassionate Liberation or Murder?” Vicki Lachman talks about the option that patients have to request a lethal dosage of medication. She explores the moral conscience of nurses, the ethical and moral issues, and the legal issues that surround a patient’s request for lethal dosages.…

    • 2492 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Over the years, there has been much debate within the United States as to whether or not assisted suicide should be allowed. This battle has been long fought, those who support the practice of physician-assisted suicide state that those who are terminally ill should have the right to die with dignity. Those against the practice of physician-assisted suicide state it is not only morally wrong but the same as murder. The classical ethics theory of virtue ethics has been utilized to argue against physician assisted suicide since first instances of the issue. Arguments against legalizing the practice of physician-assisted suicide include arguments that doctors take the Hippocratic Oath, which many argue is in favor of preserving life, rather than help take it. (Cite Hippocratic oath debate here)…

    • 1087 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    suffering or stem from an understanding of the duty to respect patient autonomy. Positions in…

    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Physician Assisted Suicide

    • 1166 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Dieterle is a professor at Eastern Michigan University in the department of history and philosophy. In this paper he reviewed the arguments against physician assisted suicide. He discusses the Oregon 's Death with Dignity Act and their practice with PAS. Dieterle does not provide positive arguments for physician-assisted suicide because he believes that no anti-PAS argument has value. Consequential arguments were analyzed throughout this paper. After reviewing some of the arguments, Dieterle stated that statistics based on Pas does not agree with the consequential predictions.…

    • 1166 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The issue concerning assisted suicide is an extensively debated ethical affair. The debate stems from different viewpoints first concerning when the act is considered appropriate and then what the resulting consequences would look like if the act were permissible (Lo, 2005). Ethical decisions in assisted suicide are debated along the lines concerned with the worthy nature of life and on what is entailed in a life that is worth living and consequently, who ultimately decides this. Many religions, however, hold that life is Gods’ gift, which should not be interfered with let alone be destroyed (Lo, 2005).…

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Physician Aid in Dying

    • 1448 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Bioethics is considered by some to be the decisions made by a person or group using logic and knowledge of right or wrong as it affects current biological issues. It is a growing concern in today’s world where people are caught in a balancing act of human nature and law to determine right and wrong regarding biological and medical issues concerning them. A bioethical issue that has been around for years is physician aid in death. Although this issue is said to give terminally ill patients the comfort and dignity of ending their lives on the terms they choose, some say that decisions are influenced by doctors and infringe upon human rights.…

    • 1448 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Physician assisted suicide is based on an ideal of conscious responsibility and control over one's life. In some circumstances when modern medicine cannot ease the physical and/or psychological suffering of a terminally ill patient, forcibly prolonging life is cruel and unnecessary. In such cases, the doctor does more harm by keeping the patient alive against his wishes than by helping him die. A terminally ill person may not want to live "superficially" with the help of modern medical advances since the quality of his life will dramatically decrease. Physical pain is not the only element of suffering; emotional distress is an equally serious concern for those considering physician-assisted suicide. It should not be the place of anyone other than the patient to determine what constitutes intolerable suffering.…

    • 477 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Physician assisted suicide, is this an ethical procedure? Many feel strongly on both sides of this issue. Some states such as Washington and Oregon have made Physician assisted suicide legal. Other states such as Michigan and Massachusetts have put the issue to a vote and the voters have turned down the option. What exactly is physician assisted suicide? According to Dictionary.com, the definition is a situation in which a physician provides the means of death for a gravely ill patient .Dehal and Levy explain, “The Death With Dignity Act (DWDA) allows mentally competent, terminally ill patients who are over 18 years of age and residents of the state of Oregon to obtain a prescription for a lethal dosage of medication to end their own life in case their suffering becomes unbearable. Patients eligible for the act must make one written and two oral requests over a period of 15 days. The prescribing physician and a consulting physician have to confirm the diagnosis and the prognosis. If either doctor believes the patient's mental competence is impaired, he must be referred for a psychiatric or psychological evaluation. The prescribing physician is required to inform the patient of potential alternatives to PAS, such as comfort care, hospice care, and pain control.” The positives of Physician assisted suicide is that people who are at the end of their lives can forgo the incredible pain that can happen with many diseases. Health care cost can be reduced. Doctors and Nurses would have more time to save those who are going to live or those who wish to try to survive. Family and friends have a chance to say their good byes. Organs can be saved to help others. Patients feel they have a choice, and may not be forced to try other ways to diminish their pain. The negatives include that many feel physician assisted…

    • 2634 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Physician-assisted suicide is the process of killing oneself with the assistance from a physician that writes a lethal prescription for a medication to be administered in the presence of another health professional and is currently legal in only three states, Oregon, Washington and Montana. There are certain qualifications that one must meet to qualify for the service Oregon has named the “Death with Dignity Act”; however, more often than not these stipulations are not being satisfied sufficiently and instead the physician is granting requests without paying mind to the depression the patient may be suffering from. Health insurance companies in these statesare also taking this bill that is supposed to empower patients to choose their own fate and turning it into a reason to exclude coverage for the drugs needed to prolong their lives. Instead of covering thousands of dollars worth of chemotherapy or other treatments, the insurance company would rather take the cheaper way out and offer physician assisted suicide. While it allows the terminally ill to take control of their own fate, physician-assisted suicide should be illegal as it allows outside sources to make deciding factors on the value of human life.…

    • 848 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Physician-assisted suicide is “the voluntary termination of one's own life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician. Physician-assisted suicide is the practice of providing a competent patient with a prescription for medication for the patient to use with the primary intention of ending his or her own life” (MedicineNet.com, 2004). Many times this ethical issue arises when a terminally-ill patient with and incurable illness, whom is given little time to live, usually less than six-months, has requested a physician’s assistance in terminating one’s life. This practice with the terminally ill is known as euthanasia. Physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia is a controversial topic that brings up many ethical issues and the rights of the patients the physicians serve. Many questions arise when this topic is discussed. For example, does an individual have the right to end their life, if prolonging it will only cause more pain and suffering? Should families, who do not want to lose a loved one, be allowed to prolong the pain in the life of a terminally ill family member so they do not experience loss? Is this more or less ethical than letting the person die? This paper will examine why terminally-ill patients should be allowed to make decisions regarding their care and their life. This paper will examine a utilitarian perspective on physician-aided suicide, which provides a solid argument for allowing physician-assisted suicides in certain circumstances.…

    • 1475 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Physician-assisted suicide, also known as PAS, gives patients in critical medical conditions the right to end their lives. Physician-assisted suicide is currently legal in three American states, which are Oregon, Washington, and Montana. Morrow informs, “Between 1994 and 2006, there were 75 legislative bills to legalize PAS in 21 states and all of them failed” (1). Patients suffering from chronic illness often contemplate suicide, because the pain and suffering may just be never ending. Some believe that trust between a doctor and patient would be broken, knowing that the doctor and kill their patient. Although in reality it should create a stronger trust, and a sense of security. Patients would not be sitting around in bed wondering when or how their doctors are going to kill them. It’s every person’s own freedom and shouldn’t be taken away from them. Patients in critical condition should choose whether or not to take their own lives and put an end to their suffering via physician-assisted suicide.…

    • 1155 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Physician Assisted Suicide

    • 7664 Words
    • 31 Pages

    In today's society, one of the most controversial issues is physician-assisted suicide for the terminally ill. Many people feel that it is wrong for people, regardless of their health condition, to ask their health care provider to end their life; while others feel it is their right to be able to choose how and when they die. When a physician is asked to help a patient into death, they have many responsibilities that come along with that single question. Among those responsibilities are: providing valid information as to the terminal illness the patient is suffering, educating the patient as to what their final options may be, making the decision of whether or not to help the patient into death, and also if they do decide to help, providing the lethal dose of medication that will end the patient's life. For those who believe physician-assisted suicide should be their choice, they feel it should be legalized because: they don't want to go through the suffering caused by the terminal illness; they fear the loss of their autonomy (independence); becoming a burden to their family or friends, and also the fear of dying alone. One the other hand those opposed to assisted suicide feel it goes against religious beliefs and medical ethics. They also believe that there is always the possibility that a miracle will occur and the patient will overcome the illness and also that the doctor could have provided the wrong prognosis/diagnosis to the patient. The strongest reason against physician-assisted suicide has been the idea that if assisted suicide becomes legal, it will get out of hand and target certain people in society, such as those with disabilities, or certain races.…

    • 7664 Words
    • 31 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Everyday many terminally ill people are faced with very difficult decisions regarding how they want to continue or end their painful life. When a person has come to terms with their decision to end their life and is unable to due to disability or sickness, they may try to turn to physicians in order to receive assistance in the termination of their life. While at the moment in Canada physician assisted suicide is illegal, the controversy around the topic is of great debate. Many people and religious groups believe that it is wrong, no matter what your state of…

    • 2338 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays

Related Topics