...Physician Assisted Suicide Jason July 9, 2012 Most states in the United States make euthanasia, also known as physician-assisted suicide, a felony crime, punishable by years of imprisonment. Euthanasia is a very notorious issue within the medical and legal systems; which has been in debate for almost two million years. The word ‘euthanasia’ comes from the Greek origin and means “good death, or easy death.” (Pozgar, 2010) When considering a physician acting in the best interest of the patient, the “legal system must ensure that the constitutional rights of the patient are maintained, while protecting society’s interests in preserving life, preventing suicide, and maintaining the integrity of the medical profession.” (Pozgar, 2010)Euthanasia is a highly controversial issue, especially when patients and their families recognize the quality of life being greatly decreased, with no end to the pain and suffering, the real problem occurs for both the patient and family, but for the health care professionals as well. Surely we all remember Dr. Jack Kevorkian, one of the most controversial and most publically followed physicians held liable for his actions in physician-assisted suicide. The medical staff is trained to save lives, preserve life, treat illness, and bandage wounds, so it would be considered very unethical for any medical profession to aid in euthanasia. “The prohibition against killing patients ... stands as the first promise of self-restraint sworn to in the...
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...Running head: ANALYSIS OF AN ETHICAL DILEMMA Analysis of an Ethical Dilemma NRS 437V December 11, 2011 Analysis of an Ethical Dilemma Euthanasia, sometimes referred to as mercy killing, is an act by a third party that causes a patient’s death. Such acts include administering a lethal dose of medication by way of injection or mask, usually to a seriously ill patient. This analysis will discuss the ethics of euthanasia as it relates to nursing, laws, society, and the stakeholders involved in the scenario. The American Nurses Association (ANA) believes that the nurse should not participate in Active euthanasia because such an act is in direct violation of the Code for Nurses with Interpretive Statements, the ethical traditions and goals of the profession, and its covenant with society. (Task Force on the Nurse's Role in End-of-Life Decisions, 2011) While patient advocates should be vigilant for providing diligent care, they should perform their tasks with respect, support and due commitment towards their care. In healthcare practice, in order to relieve pain and suffering, there is an obligation to promote dignity and autonomy of patients. Euthanasia is a complex issue in which nurses are uncomfortable determining the life and death of a patient. Nurses have to practice ethical principles of beneficence, which maximize benefit and reduce potential risk and harm to the patient. Non-malfeasance is another ethical issue in which a nurse should do no harm. A competent...
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...Euthanasia/Assisted Suicide Debate Of course we want our loved ones to be a part of our lives as long as possible and thanks to modern medical technology, the average human life span is about seventy-eight years. Yet, some of us get sick, diseased or injured in an accident and become comatose. When the medical condition of a person is deemed progressive, terminal and there is no hope of recovery, that person should be able to exercise the option of ending their life. Particularly, when that individual feels he or she cannot stand the suffering in the last stages of their disease. Moreover, if a person has sustained an injury where their brain is not functional or damaged beyond basic functions, euthanasia is an option to lengthy life-sustaining treatment methods that may be futile. However, euthanasia has been a debated topic since the Greek-written Hippocratic Oath. This Oath is one of the first statements of moral conduct where doctors and health care professionals profess to do no harm by practicing medicine ethically. There are many opinions that in certain special populations, such as minorities and the disabled, euthanasia and assisted suicide give ways to possible abuse of the health care system. The three states that that now allow assisted suicide are Washington (2008), Montana (2008), and Oregon (1994), euthanasia is still illegal in the United States. The difference between euthanasia and assisted suicide is the administration of the lethal drugs to...
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...been long simmered beneath the surface in legal and political circles: under what circumstances do terminally injured and ill Americans have the right to choose to die? The Supreme Court made a definitive statement in the landmark 1990 case Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Dept. of Health that severely injured patients have a constitutional right to refuse medical treatment and die. But the court also ruled that states can require "clear and convincing" evidence of a patient's intent to forgo medical treatment, a rather high evidentiary standard to meet. History The actual word for “having a right to die” is Euthanasia. According to Dictionary.com, euthanasia is defined as the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering. The concept of Euthanasia goes as far back as 1870, when Samuel Williams, a schoolteacher, initiated the contemporary euthanasia debate through a speech given at the Birmingham Speculative Club, which was subsequently published in a one-off publication...
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...Research Paper Final 12/11/2011 Euthanasia: “The Right to Die” The essential right that can assist today to every human being is life, but when turns out to be affected by a few deplorable conditions of health, which they take the one who endures them to meet in a situation in which there turns out to be imprisoned in an intensive care unit, of which it is not known if it will go out, where its existence is in the tightrope, where it can exist an irreversible exit, where the existence will depend in the future of extraordinary means, connected to machines like the artificial respirator, it is necessary to ask if the life is looking after or prolonging the agony that can take us to the death. Below I will discuss the definition of Euthanasia, some aspects to take for a possible approval, and finally i will discuss some of the points in favor and against euthanasia. For all practical purposes i will take as a definition of euthanasia the following: a patient's right to decide on the form and the time of his death., this within a short definition, but you are looking for the sole purpose the rid a person of their intense suffering, a merciless agony they endure as a result of a serious illness and incurable (for example, some types of cancer, or AIDS). The above mentioned illness or the condition must have been diagnosed sufficiently, so that its irreversibility characteristic, it is such, that determines the death as something inevitable. Within the same definition, the...
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...Christian decision. Mainline and Liberal Christian denominations: Pro-choice statements have been made by the United Church of Christ, and the Methodist Church on the US West coast. The 'Episcopalian (Anglican) Unitarian, Methodist, Presbyterian and Quaker movements are amongst the most liberal, allowing at least individual decision making in cases of active euthanasia The BBC wrote in an Aug. 3, 2009 online article titled "Religion & Ethics - Christianity: Euthanasia - the Christian View" on www.bbc.co.uk: "Christians are mostly against euthanasia. The arguments are usually based on the beliefs that life is given by God, and that human beings are made in God's image. Some churches also emphasise the importance of not interfering with the natural process of death... Christians believe that the intrinsic dignity and value of human lives means that the value of each human life is identical. They don't think that human dignity and value are measured by mobility, intelligence, or any achievements in life. Valuing human beings as equal just because they are human beings has clear implications for thinking about euthanasia: • patients in a persistent vegetative state, although seriously damaged, remain living human beings, and so their intrinsic value remains the same as anyone else's • so it would be wrong to treat their lives as worthless and to conclude that they 'would be better off dead' • patients who are old or sick, and who are near the end of earthly life...
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...INTRODUCTION Euthanasia is defined as the intentional killing, by act or omission, of a human being for his or her purported benefit. This definition is quite wide-ranging and a number of types of euthanasia and related activities have been defined. These include physician-assisted suicide and involuntary/non-voluntary euthanasia. While participation in the death of another—desired or otherwise—is usually defined in terms of a criminal act, a number of jurisdictions have established lawful protocols permitting such outcomes. By the same token, other jurisdictions, the Netherlands, have adopted what amount to non-punitive protocols in the face of existing legislation to the contrary when certain medical procedures are undertaken by licensed physicians. All of these acts have created considerable debate, extending to such issues as physician responsibility, duty of care, extent of individual responsibility, and personal integrity, to name just a few. This paper considers aspects of euthanasia and the moral factors that pertain. At the conclusion, this paper will recommend that certain types of euthanasia be permitted under the general supervision of a trained physician. EUTHANASIA AND PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE Physician-assisted suicide (PAS), like euthanasia, has been forbidden since the creation of the Hippocratic Oath. However, as a practical matter, physicians have had a measure of latitude in the specific application. For example, a fatal dose of an opium...
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...Euthanasia on a Global View The term euthanasia is not heard normally in our North American society. To knowingly take your own life is looked down upon by the majority. It being seen as acts of the mentally ill and abused. To the majority, euthanasia is seen as a useless evil used give some people an unnecessary way out of their lives. To those on the other side this gives them a solution to suffering that they have endured. The rule prevails in the United States, as in Britain, that a person who kills another with his consent for merciful reasons, when that other person is suffering from a fatal and incurable disease, is guilty of murder or manslaughter; and the rule is the same if he provides the sufferer with the means of suicide. Apparently only in Texas is the position different; there, the act of providing the means of suicide is not an offense, but directly killing the sufferer is. (Williams 1957) The idea of euthanasia or the right to die is seen as taboo in our society. The idea of death is one that most of us choose to keep from our minds. There appear to be two main arguments against euthanasia that are widely acknowledged; it would eventually not only be for the “terminally ill” and it is a rejection of the importance and value of human life. (Euthanasia 2013) Those for euthanasia claim that it helps to end suffering for the terminally ill. The opposed counter this with the argument that “terminal” can be defined in many different ways. Dr. J. Kevorkian...
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...challenging for me, mainly because at 110 you are considered to be really old. However, recently there has been another form of death that has a lot of controversy surrounding it. Doctor assisted death also known as Euthanasia. Euthanasia currently does not fall into any of the three before mentioned categories; we put it somewhere in the middle between murder and suicide. Like many other words in our English language euthanasia is Greek rooted eu, it means good and then thanasia means death, combined they mean “good death”. Take a moment and consider you have an illness and the doctors have just informed you it is terminal and you have only four weeks to live. They then tell you that during those four weeks you are going to be in continual excruciating pain and unbearable agony, and that no matter what pain medication they gave you there was nothing that would give you even a moment of relief. What would you do? If you decided to take action would it be in the form of an injection, a handful of pills, or maybe jump of a building? Euthanasia would mean either choosing to inject your-self with something or swallow a pill, obviously hoping to have a “good death” jumping of a high building would not be the best choice. Nowadays when we think of euthanasia we instantly envision Dr. Jack Kevorkian. If this name is not sounding familiar then you may be one of the lucky few that have...
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...“The term assisted suicide refers to the practice of a physician prescribing legal drugs that allow terminally ill patients to end their own lives. The difference between assisted suicide and euthanasia (mercy killing) is that in assisted suicide the doctor may only provide the drugs, not administer them, while in euthanasia the doctor can provide and administer the drugs.” (Brochu B1). What is known as the “Right to Die Movement” is the fight for one’s complete autonomy. It is important not to look at assisted suicide as killing someone as if you are taking them for their life without their permission. This is about alleviating suffering for those who are not going to get relief any other way. Assisted suicide should be legalized because as human beings, we should have a freedom of choice, as well as an end to prolonged suffering, and this may cause a reduction of traditional suicide methods. Putting those who’s quality of life is dwindling out of their misery has been a dilemma for ages, but going as far back to the 1930’s in London it is recorded that the royal physician Lord Bertrand Dawson to King George V was in charge of making sure the king departed peacefully. On January 20, 1936, Dawson injected the dying King with the lethal dose of three-quarters of a gram of morphine and one gram of cocaine (Ekland-Olson, 63). It has also been recorded that on September 23, 1939, the great psychologist Sigmund Freud was put to rest by his former student, Dr. Max Schur, after Freud...
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...The Greek term euthanasia literally means “good death” (MacKinnon, 164). Many people today heavily support euthanasia because they feel each individual has the right to die. Proponents for euthanasia would agree that by electing to be euthanized the individual not only has the right to die but the right to die with dignity, to end pain and suffering, and to lessen the financial and emotional burdens on their loved ones. In short, proponents rationalize that the ill are simply “better off dead”. Opponents of euthanasia feel that in no way are we “better off dead”. This reasoning goes against our human inclination to live. Euthanasia is irreversible suicide, simply wrong and should not be accepted. Williams’ article, “The Wrongfulness of Euthanasia” states that in our daily lives we exercise the caution and care necessary to protect ourselves (MacKinnon, 179). Our bodies and mindset were designed to promote life. His article goes on to state we are structured for survival right down to the molecular level. For instance, most of us make attempts to eat well, exercise, take vitamins, and simply try to live life and be as healthy as we can. For most of us it comes as a major shock when we are stricken with terminal illness. No one wants to think of death or spend our last days suffering from pain. There is no doubt that there are times during an individual’s agony when dealing with pain that they may think, if I were to die I could no longer feel this pain. Many people...
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...Student Name: David Mc Namara. Title: Are we moving towards Assisted Suicide? “Those who have exhausted the end seek the right to die with dignity, this is a choice to die, which allows the body to speak its end rather than have that end dictated by the voice of an expert, legal or medical” (Hannifin. 2009, p.84) The person who seeks to die is, to paraphrase Foucault, ‘the Passenger par excellence: that is, the prisoner of the passage’ (Foucault. 1967, p.11) The European Convention on Human Rights sets out a number of fundamental rights and freedoms, right to life, prohibition of torture, prohibition of slavery and forced labour, right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, no punishment without law, right to respect and family life, freedoms of thought, conscience and religion, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association, right to marry, right to effective remedy, and prohibition of discrimination The Council of Europe produced the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in 1950. This body was formed in the aftermath of the Second World War to achieve unity among its members in such matters as the protection of fundamental rights. The Convention was drafted after the atrocities of the Second World War. The Convention was signed by the High Contracting Parties in 1950, and came into force in1953. It was ratified by the United Kingdom in 1957. Article 2 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental...
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...Euthanasia Euthanasia - Deep sympathy for the suffering Introduction Euthanasia is the deliberate killing either by omission or commission of a dependent person for their benefit. Arguments against euthanasia claim that the concern for happiness and human life and not their obliteration is the objective of any good governance. They say that the terminally ill are people who require protection from social, economic and family pressures, and who are particularly prone to this pressure as a result of chronic depression, pain and effects of continued medication. Arguments for euthanasia say it is impossible to maintain quality of life if a patient is dead. While there have been massive arguments, debates and campaigns against euthanasia, this paper will seek to support euthanasia because of the moral issues that relate to the topic. This paper supports that when a personal is physically dead, the only reason anybody wishes to keep them alive is for their selfish clinging onto them with the hope of a miracle and the fear of closure without regard to the wishes of the person. It supports the practice of euthanasia and seeks to evaluate the reasons why euthanasia should be legalized. This paper will have a general audience because of the controversy that it sparks every time it comes up Death is a dreaded subject for all human beings because it signifies leaving the known to go to the unknown. This is the reason why by its nature euthanasia is a hugely hushed up topic...
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...ETHICAL ISSUES IN HEALTH To evaluate the impact of moral philosophy on medical practice we must first look at what a moral philosophy is, also which philosophies that will be included. Moral philosophy is the area of philosophy concerned with theories of ethics, with how we ought to live our lives. Deontology and utilitarianism are the two philosophies that I shall be evaluating and applying throughout this essay. These are two time-honoured philosophical positions that apply to a wide variety of topics. Deontology is an ethical system that is attributed to the philosophical tradition of Immanuel Kant. Deontology demands that the actions, or means themselves must be ethical. This philosophy is based upon principles of duty and obligation, we have the freedom to act morally (right) or otherwise (wrong) based on General Universal Laws. To respect life means that you must not kill, to respect others is not to steal these moral laws are black and white as you must do what is right and do not do what is wrong regardless of circumstance or outcome. Deontologists argue that there are transcendent ethical norms and truths that are universally applicable to all people. Deontology holds that some actions are immoral regardless of their consequence; these actions are wrong in and of themselves. We should not act out of feeling, inclination, love or compassion, but out of our moral duty according to the universal moral laws. Kant gives a ‘categorical imperative’ to act morally at all times...
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...A gravely ill man lies in bed awaiting death. He exerts all his energy upon every breath he takes. One of life’s agonies is waiting for it all to be over. Euthanasia, a remedy for this man’s unfortunate situation, could be his solution to happiness. It has been a long disputed act in the United States and Europe. Euthanasia is the practice of painlessly ending the lives of people who have incurable, painful, or distressing diseases or handicaps. Euthanasia is sometimes called ‘mercy killing’. To begin, one aspect of euthanasia’s benefits is the fact that the quality of life when a person is chronically ill tends to be very bad. Euthanasia can end an uncomfortable and painful life. Secondly, euthanasia can save families money on medical bills. The cost of keeping a person alive with an unfortunate fate would be higher than a person who chooses to pass away. Lastly, a person, legally, should have the right to end their life. Firstly, the issue of quality of life plays a large role in the support of euthanasia. Lying in bed all day can be a form of torture within itself. Bed sores and boredom result from staying in bed, wasting away. Also, illness such as cancerous diseases and other sicknesses decline the quality of life. Of course, pain plays a role in this matter. It’s very difficult to function in everyday life when pain is a constant companion. To most people with any of these problems, in their point of view, value of existence can be low. Continuing along on this issue,...
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