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. Opinion
My opinion of the issue of physician assisted suicide is that it is wrong in any form to take a life before God or nature says it is time to go. Through our modern era of technological advances to various diseases and illnesses, we can live longer today than before. These advances have made life a little more comfortable to deal with medical condition than in recent years. I believe that if medical professionals get into the business of killing patients will affect public opinion of the medical profession. The medical profession is held to a high standard in public; we go them for advice and treatment of a medical condition. When we set into this situation of asking them to end of life because of the pain and suffering, we are asking the public to decrease the confidence in the medical profession. Another reason we should not get involved in this issue is that there are areas where physician assisted suicide can be abused.
The Term Paper on Physician-Assisted Suicide
According to the American Medical Association, physician-assisted suicide “occurs when a physician facilitates a patient’s death by providing the necessary means and/or ... one’s life is not coming from an emotional reaction. Something as serious as assisted suicide should never be decided upon emotionally. Serious ethical issues ...
Patients could be forced into choosing death over treatments from the doctor or other medical professionals, which can go against the family wishes. The final and most important reason is that taking a life in any form is an act of committing immortal treatment toward a person. Killing a person is a crime and the person who commits such a crime is punished for it. The discussion with my classmates this week helps me re-confirm my opinion of this issue. My classmates did offer me an insight into the other side of this decision but I still believe that physician assisted suicide is wrong. I believe that a person’s pain and suffering is all part of the human process, without these two items in life one would not become a person that learns to deal with what is thrown at them. Yes, pain and suffering is a bad thing to get through but with the proper pain management a person can live through it. Since, the beginning of human life pain has been part of it. Physician Assisted Suicide
This issues involves three different viewpoints; the patient, medical professional, the family of the patient and the legal ramification. The patient in this case might want to end their life. According to Snyder and Sulmasy 2009 explains that “most individuals who contemplate or succeed at suicide are depressed or have other psychiatric condition” (Acponline, 2009).
When a patient makes this kind of decision there are usually other hidden factors or factors forcing them to make this kind of decision. For the medical professional to make such a decision, they could be in a conflict of interest role has the medical professional treating the patient. They are close to patient and making this decision puts them in a situation of making this in an emotional state. The family might make this decision based on their own opinion of this issues versus what’s the best interest of their family member. It would be easy to assume that the family would want to the suffering because of their emotions as well. They see first-hand through the daily struggles of what their days are made of, pain and suffering and medication induced life. Legal ramification through government regulations should step in and control any situation where physician assisted suicide could occur. The government relies on stating what is accepted and not in the face of this country; they are one that provides us the laws to abide by and should as well when this issue could occur. Complete Control
The Essay on Ethical Principles In Medical Decision Making
... be balanced. I think that patient autonomy and respect for persons have to be a part of every medical decision that an individual makes. ... the potential for harm in both refusal of life sustaining treatment and PAS, patients must have the highest level of competence. ... manner. Ultimately it was this key issue that was responsible for the removal of her life-sustaining treatment. Initially the Supreme ...
The patient should have complete control over their medical treatment. The doctor’s role should be an advisor to their condition. Ultimately, the final decision is up to the patient because they are one that has to endure the changes and improvement of their medical condition. For someone else having the control, their rights as a person would be violated. A violation of the patient wishes could bring about legal issues against the family or medical professional for not listening to the patient. Physician Assisted Suicide is an on-going issue that bring in the moral issues of what is accepted and not. Many states have tried to pass this issue but were rejected and now they have placed a legal concern if a person involves in this act. Pain and suffering will always occur within the human body, it is part of life and should stay that way. Forcing or not to end a life in any form is against the law and against human life.
