...truth to the parents and or coach. Although not as controversial as assisted suicide it poses significant risks and eyebrow raises in the sports world. Doctors, nurses, and various medical personal have a harder role. They wager people’s lives and future and decide in some countries whether or not to permit such an act. In this essay we will explore the facts on Euthanasia: Assisted Suicide, my view, the world view and its progress. Before I begin, however, let me note what I will not try to do. I will not try to show you that Physician Assisted Suicide is a fully justifiable course of action what I will do is give you facts and statistics of this rapidly growing controversial issue.. What I will show you is the compatibility to the commitment to good end-of-life care. One of the most important public policy debates today surrounds the issues of euthanasia and assisted suicide. The outcome of that debate to whether or not it should be made available will profoundly affect family relationships, interaction between doctors and patients, and concepts of basic ethical behavior. Although not accepted widespread, the thought and ease of relocation to a place where it is available is an option many people are considering. By definition Physician-Assisted Suicide is defined as a physician providing medications or other interventions to a patient with understanding that the patient intends to use them to commit suicide. In contrast to Euthanasia defined as, intentionally administering...
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...A Survey of Physician-Assisted Suicide English Composition I Abstract I recently became aware of the Oregon Death and Dignity Act; I found this to be an interesting idea. It is not difficult to understand that the citizens may have varied and strong opinions about this subject, however the article I have chosen examines the physician opinion of medically assisted suicide, mainly the physicians without the legal option of medically-assisted suicide. A Survey of Physician-Assisted Suicide With an aging population it is not only important to understand the attitude of the public in regards to physician assisted suicide, but also the attitudes of those charged with carrying out the task of euthanasia or assisted suicide. First it is important to understand the term physician assited suicide refers to the medical professional providing the client with the means to commit suicide, meaning the physician provide medications or equipment to facilitate the end of the clients life. This differs from euthanasia in that the physician is not actually ending the client’s life through lethal injection or other direct means. The article I chose to examine is a study of physician attitude towards assisted suicide and a study and the prevalence of this request by their clients. The results are the compiled data of a survey sent to 3102 physicians, these physicians work in the fields most likely to receive a request for assisted suicide. Methods and Analysis The survey involved...
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...Annotated Bibliography LEVY, TAL BERGMAN, et al. "Attitudes Towards Euthanasia And Assisted Suicide: A Comparison Between Psychiatrists And Other Physicians." Bioethics 27.7 (2013): 402-408. Academic Search Premier. Web. 5 Apr. 2014. This article by Tal Bergman talks about euthanasia and physician assisted-suicide. are terms used to describe the process in which a doctor of a sick or disabled individual engages in an activity which directly or indirectly leads to their death. This behavior is engaged by the healthcare provider based on their humanistic desire to end suffering and pain. The psychiatrist's involvement may be requested in several distinct situations including evaluation of patient capacity when an appeal for euthanasia is requested on grounds of terminal somatic illness or when the patient is requesting euthanasia due to mental suffering. We compare attitudes of 49 psychiatrists towards euthanasia and assisted suicide with a group of 54 other physicians by means of a questionnaire describing different patients, who either requested physician-assisted suicide or in whom euthanasia as a treatment option was considered, followed by a set of questions relating to euthanasia implementation. When controlled for religious practice, psychiatrists expressed more conservative views regarding euthanasia than did physicians from other medical specialties. Similarly female physicians and orthodox physicians indicated more conservative views. Differences may be due to factors...
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...This essay will demonstrate that it is not “always morally worse to kill than it is to let die”. It will be argued that passive euthanasia (i.e. letting someone die) is not morally wrong and that active euthanasia (i.e. accelerating their death) is no less moral. However, the many complications associated with the legalisation of active euthanasia (and euthanasia in general) must be identified and addressed. These identified complications may be eliminated with an appropriate regulatory regime. Assuming that identified complications can be overcome, and having established that it is not always morally worse to kill than to let die, it will be demonstrated that active euthanasia should not be banned. Morality, as defined by the Oxford Dictionary, is “principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behaviour”1. Hinde states that the principles are influenced and changed by one’s society and culture but also “based in human nature”2. As morality is influenced by society, public opinion is important when it comes to controversial issues. Morality differs from place to place and evolves over time. To compound this diversity, changes in medical treatment, and discoveries which enhance medical knowledge evolves rapidly and what was not even conceivable in some cultures or at certain points in history are now commonly accepted. Developments in end of life care fall within this category. With our increased ability to prolong life, arguments can now be made...
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...In 1990, some argued that the doctors and nurses should do everything possible to save a human’s life was 15% and the number has increased to 31% in 2013. That proves PAS is wrong, and the number doesn’t agree that PAS will rise in the next couple years (Views on End-of-Life Medical Treatments). The role of the physician is to conserve and enhance lives; taking away life by PAS is contradictory. This will break the relationship between doctor and patient. Patients should not fully put all their faith in doctors. In article “Attitudes of UK doctors towards euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide,” a systematic literature review in 2011 was written by three authors: Ruaidhri McCormack, Margaret Clifford, and Marian Conroy. They are employed...
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...of End of Life There are many questions that can be asked on the very controversial topic of assisted euthanasia. The most common views or beliefs of this medical dilemma can be said to be extremely for or against the process of euthanasia. Opposition can argue that assisted suicide devalues human life, is ethically and religiously immoral, and can lead to purification of society or performing euthanasia for financial reasons. Although these are valid political and religious arguments to consider, a much more personal view must be argued. The quality versus the quantity of the patient’s life, the patient’s personal wants and feelings, and the family must be taken into consideration. “There is no single, objectively correct answer for everyone as to when, if at all, one’s life becomes all things considered a burden and unwanted. If self-determination is a fundamental value, then the great variability among people on this question makes it especially important that individuals control the manner, circumstances, and timing of their death and dying.” (Cassle and Meier, 1990) The patient’s specific illnesses, the treatment that has already been endured, and the projected outcome of the disease should also be looked at when asking if assisted euthanasia/suicide should be morally and legally accepted by society. Although there are many religious and political points of view on assisted euthanasia, the patient’s individual circumstances and own personal wants or beliefs should...
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...Physician Assisted Euthanasia Good To Be Kept Illegal Right to decide about their life is always considered as the basic right of the individual across the world. Some people believe that it is not good to restrain someone from taking decision about their own life and it is not a wrong view. The area where validation of this basic right gets doubted is Physician Assisted Euthanasia. Physician Assisted Euthanasia or Physician Assisted Suicide mean getting death with the help of physician. Sometime there are situations in life where the person decide to surrender his life to death and in most cases the probable reason for their decision is terminal diseases .Should Physician Assisted Euthanasia be legalized or it should be kept Illegal? Keeping Physician Assisted Euthanasia illegal is good choice because of three common reasons. Firstly the basic duty of Physicians is to save the life not to take the life. The fundamental duty of physician conflicts with the view of legalizing Physician Assisted Euthanasia. The physician when starts his/her career pledges to save as many lives as possible. But if this particular type of Euthanasia is legalized then it will not only against the fundamental duty of physicians but also against the code of conduct applicable on physicians. The legalized euthanasia can create conflicts among various medical institutions because some physicians are in the favor of the question of legalization and some are in the opposition. The conflict can be...
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...EITHICAL DELIMAS IN NURSING Green Group Shannon Blake, Sherri Dunn, Susan Brown, Tammie Hicks, Miriam Cook Grand Canyon University Nrs-437 November 7, 2015 Nurses have been playing very important roles in the caring of patients throughout the continuum of life and at the end of life for years. It is the position of the ANA that participation of nurses in euthanasia is prohibited as those acts are in contradiction of the code of ethics for nurses. Nurses have a duty to provide humane, comprehensive and compassionate care in respect to the rights of patients, but maintain the standard of the profession in the presence of chronic, debilitating illness and at the end of life. Voluntary euthanasia is the act of taking a life painlessly especially to relief suffering from an incurable illness, with the consent of a dying patient. Denying people such wishes can lead to unnecessary suffering. There are two types of euthanasia; involuntary, where patients refuse to consent and non-voluntary, patients unable to consent. Euthanasia can have great impact on the society. It affects everyone one way or another. Although a person has autonomy to make decisions about his end of life care doesn’t take away from the fact that their family and friends will be affected with guilt, anger and bitterness. Voluntary euthanasia can hamper efforts to advance medical research in finding cures for diseases (Saunders, 2011). As the nurse taking care of a terminally ill patient...
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...What is voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide? Voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are similar. Forms of assisted suicide involve the guidance and supervision of a licensed physician. There is a difference between euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. Physician-assisted suicides’ preparation is when, “A doctor’s helping their distressed patient to commit suicide at the patient’s autonomous appeal” (Varelius, 2013). Euthanasia, on the other hand, “consists of administering lethal medication to the patient,” by the licensed physician (Varelius, 2013). There are countless numbers of questions and concerns about an individual’s quality of life. Under no circumstances, suicide is never the ideal way for an individual to die. However, if physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia were legal and regulated in all states, then the United States Constitution may salvage lives by giving people the right to elect how they wish to die. This is a matter of legal issues, moral issues, and...
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...Euthanasia/Assisted Suicide Debate Marissa Burton HCA 322 Mark Metzger April 29, 2013 Dying has become a dilemma. The act of dying has transformed in recent technological advances by making it possible not only to lessen pain but also to extend life. However, when treatment fails and modern medicine has nothing more to present to patients, they may demand for a life ending act. When patients and their family become aware of the quality of life and a great deal of unbearable pain, conflict often introduces itself between health care professionals who are trained to save lives, and patients and their families, who desire to end all suffering. According to Pozgar (2013), the focal point of this conflict is on the concept of euthanasia and its position in the modern world. The issue has been at the middle of some very heated debates for many years (p.123). Euthanasia can be defined as the act or practice of terminating a person’s life in order to relieve them of their suffering from incurable conditions or diseases. Euthanasia is also known as “the mercy killing of the hopelessly ill, injured, or incapacitated”. The dividing of euthanasia into two categories, active and passive, is for many the most controversial aspect of this topic (Pozgar, 2013). Active euthanasia takes place when the medical professional, or another person, intentionally do something that causes the patient to die. Passive euthanasia takes place when the patient dies because the medical professional either...
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...March 16th, 2012 Persuasive Essay Euthanasia, Mercy Killing or Murder? Euthanasia and physician assisted suicide are the methods for helping patients to release their pain and suffering by using either medication or other comfortable methods. There are many arguments about these issues had been rising up from many different aspects, such as the actual definition of euthanasia and its practice; the physicians’ responsibilities and opinions; and ethics and religions stance of euthanasia. In my opinion, euthanasia and physician assisted suicide should be prohibited completely in all hospitals. Euthanasia is a physician purposely kills a patient by drugs with the approval from that person. Euthanasia can divide into two categories: passive and active euthanasia. Passive euthanasia is withdrawing any life-sustaining treatment (Palliate Medicine - 2011). In the other hand, active euthanasia is using drugs under administration of a physician. It can be voluntary, with the permission of the patients; involuntary, without a permission of a patient; and non-voluntary, with the permission of the second party due to the physical or mental condition of a patient (Health Policy – 2010). Involuntary is performing against the patient’s will, which is completely illegal. Active voluntary and non-voluntary are the main consideration of the society nowadays. One of the studies has shown the estimation of the percentage of deaths in the United Kingdom that involved euthanasia to be 0.16% (Palliative...
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...Should Physician-Assisted suicide be legal? LisAnn Marcum PHI 103 Instructor: Bruce-Alan Barnard September 16, 2013 Should Physician-Assisted suicide be legal? This paper is an argumentative paper on whether it should or should not be legal for a Physician to aid in a patient’s suicide. Physician-assisted suicide transpires when a patient who has a terminal illness wishes to end their suffering and seeks help from their physician in aiding them to do so. This will be a challenging paper that will take a look at whether or not it is legal for a physician to help in assisting a patient’s suicide, if this practice is ethical, moral, and/or unconstitutional. A great deal of the general public feel as though this form of practice is alright because if the patient is suffering then something should be done to help them. On the other hand many feel it should be left up to God to decide when our time is up. In the end it is between the patient and their physician. Physician assisted suicide is a scandalous issue that has remained disputed for centuries. The arguments are still going on in the present day about if it should be ethically accepted. Many feel this kind of action ought to remain being left up to God, others see this argument as though if the patient is in pain and distress shouldn’t something be allowed to be done in order to help them. “Deductive arguments offer reasons to accept a conclusion, and those reasons should provide all information we need to determine...
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...Relativism and Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) In 2014, Brittany Maynard a brain cancer patient moved from California to Oregon to legally end her life. As reported by The New York Times, the 29 year old schoolteacher, who had brain cancer, received international attention for her decision to move to Oregon, where terminally ill patients have been allowed to take drugs to die since 1997 (nytimes.com, “Who May Die? California Patients and Doctors Wrestle With Assisted Suicide”). The debate of whether it is ethical or unethical to have a physician assisted suicide has been an ongoing debate that has never reached its final conclusion. It probably never will with people having such different mindsets, backgrounds and religions that they have lived by,...
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...the term "physician assisted suicide" meant the provision by a physician of the means of which a suffering, terminally ill patient could initiate his or her death. The "euthanasia" means the killing of a terminally ill person to end his or her suffering. Now, by practice, the term "physician assisted suicide" has been expanded in meaning to include the administration of a lethal substance by a physician to a suffering patient-a form of euthanasia. Thus, physician assisted suicide can now be defined as any action taken by a physician to provide death to a patient. Many people argue that the decision to kill oneself is a private choice which society has no right to be concerned about. This position assumes that suicide results from competent people making autonomous, rational decision to die, and then claims that society has no business "interfering" with a freely chosen life or death decision that harms no one other the suicidal individual. However, according to experts, who have studied several cases on suicide, the basic assumption is wrong. It is very unlikely that someone with serious disability commits suicide. Rather, as society view seriously disabled and terminally ill individuals as burdens with unacceptable quality of life, these persons may feel an obligation to commit suicide. A careful 1974 British study, which involved extensive interviews and examination of medical records, found that 93% of those studied who committed suicide were mentally ill at...
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...university | ME Ciera Clark NAtional American university | ME State Health Laws on Physician-Assisted Suicide State Health Laws on Physician-Assisted Suicide February 15, 2013 February 15, 2013 Table of Contents Introduction……………………………………………………………….2 About Euthanasia and Assisted suicide………………………………….2 Legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide……………………………….3 States considering bills to legalize physician-assisted suicide………….3-4 Death with Dignity Acts………………………………………………......4-5 Oppose Physician Assisted Suicide………………………………………5-6 Supporters…………………………………………………………………6-7 Reference…………………………………………………………………..7-8 Introduction For decades, the public, government, and physicians have been debating over the “Death with Dignity Act” or “Physician-Assisted Suicide.” It started back in the Ancient Greek and Rome time. The debate originated around the Hippocratic Oath and the condemnation of the practice. With the upsurge of Christianity, many physicians continued to condemn the practice. Within the last two centuries the public has spurned many discussions about Physician-assisted suicide and Euthanasia from many different historic perspectives (Procon.org, 2012). Although this debate has been lengthy and many of the issues discussed over the centuries are repetitive, new ideas and concerns do emerge with the current debate. What do you think when you here assisted suicide? Would you want your family member to suffer with an illness that has put them in so much pain...
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