Dr. Fletcher's Arguments Against Physician Assisted Suicide

After careful consideration, Wallace discusses his desire for Physician-Assisted-Suicide (PAS) with his family and doctor. PAS is the voluntary termination of one’s own life by administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician (CITE). However, PAS

However, the negative views of this practice seem to overshadow the positive and assumptions are made that Physician-assisted suicide is an impractical way of ending a life. This practice is deemed as the worst from views of ethics, religion, medical practice, and more. However, it is an option and an option that does not have to be chosen if not wanted. That is what is ignored, but that is what people need to realize. No life has to be taken, but the option of ending your life peacefully should not be taken as well.

Lee did not want to go on anymore. Since he lived in Oregon, he was able to opt for Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act to end his life with a lethal dose of pills prescribed by his doctor (Karaim, 2013, p. 451). This occurrence is an example of physician-assisted suicide, which is essentially suicide with the help of a physician by prescribing the patient with lethal medication. Today, physician assisted suicide is legal in only five states: Oregon, Washington, Vermont, and most recently California. Undoubtedly, physician assisted suicide is a highly controversial matter; due to this fact, California will certainly have effort groups who will want to repeal the “End of Life Act,” by which Governor of California Jerry Brown signed earlier this month

Public opinion polls showed increased support for physician assisted suicide. This was due in part to technological advances in medicine as well as a greater recognition of patient’s rights.” Twenty-nine-year-old Brittany Maynard, utilized Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act, took her own life in November 2014 following a diagnosis of terminal brain cancer. “A Pew poll conducted after Ms. Maynard’s death, revealed that people viewed this as a heroic act. Also, revealed, the majority of Americans, most likely including physicians, now favor legalizing physician-assisted suicide for painful and incurable conditions: 68 percent in favor, 28 percent opposed.

Physician assisted suicide is currently legal in five U.S. states with fifteen more states reviewing it within the next year making it an important topic to look at morally and ethically. Physician assisted suicide is the act of an individual killing themselves with the help of a physician, usually by taking a lethal dose of a drug. It is important to point out that the patient first has to request it and they complete the ultimate act. This differs from euthanasia where the physician is the one who ultimately causes the death. Physician assisted suicide is requested because the patient is enduring tremendous pain and suffering which can only be ended with their death (Vaughn 293).

Physician-assisted death is the practice in which a physician provides a mentally competent patient with the means to take his/her own life, usually in the form of prescribing death-dealing medications. It first became legal in the United States in Oregon in 1998. It is now legal in four other states: Washington, California, Montana, and Vermont. In order for one to exercise their right to die this way, the law states that the patient must be at least 18 years old, be mentally competent, be diagnosed with a terminal illness that will lead to death within six months, and must wait at least fifteen days before filling the death-dealing prescriptions. This controversial practice has raised the question of whether or not it is ethical for a physician

The debate over whether or not physician-assisted suicide should be a legal option for dying patients has long been a topic for discussion amongst members of the medical community. There are pros and cons for each argument, however, at the center of this debate is the consideration of patient advocacy and well-being. Although every health care profession centers their profession around providing the best ethical care for the patient, the most important value to consider are the decisions the patient makes for themselves. Currently, patients are given many safeguards such as living wills, a durable power of attorney, and the option for do not resuscitate that act as guidelines for end of life treatment. Physician-assisted suicide

Physician assisted suicide is when a physician provides the means required to commit suicide, including prescribing lethal amounts of harmful drugs to a patient. In the United States alone, there is great controversy about physician assisted suicide. The issue is whether physician assisted suicide is murder or an act of sympathy for the patient. The main point is that terminally ill patients should have a right to physician assisted suicide if it meets their needs and is done properly. Physician assisted suicide is an appropriate action for the terminally ill that want to end their life in peace before it ends at the hands of the terminal disease.

The Right to Die 1) Introduction a) Thesis statement: Physician assisted suicide offers patients a choice of getting out of their pain and misery, presents a way to help those who are already dead mentally because of how much a disease has taken over them, proves to be a great option in many states its legal in, and puts the family at ease knowing their love one is out of pain. i) The use of physician assisted death is used in many different countries and some states. ii) Many people who chose this option are fighting a terminal illness.

Physician assisted suicide has been an intensely debated problem for years but if used properly, could be an effective way to help those who are suffering at the end of their life. Countless people have been advocating for physician assisted suicide for years and the most famous advocate for assisted suicide was Dr. Jack Kevorkian. He was a pathologist but received the nickname Dr. Death after it was estimated that between 1990 and 1999 he assisted 130 terminally ill individuals in their assisted suicides (“Jack Kevorkian”). Dr. Kevorkian is considered a crusader for physician

Anyone who has witnessed a person fights a life-threatening illness with no hope of recovery can sympathize with the patient's anguish and loss of will to live if it means more pain and less ability. Should a terminally ill person be able to choose when to lose their life? Some people oppose it for moral and religious reasons, while others support Physician-Assisted Suicide（PAS）, which is the voluntary termination of one’s life through administering a lethal substance with a physician's assistance. Unlike euthanasia, where the physician performs the intervention, PAS involves the physician providing the necessary means and the patient performing the act. Even to this day, when PAS is already legal in a growing number of states of the USA and

In response to Assisted Suicide, various sources propose better pain management, physician assisted death (P.A.D.), or legal euthanization. Euthanasia is the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease “The Netherlands, being the first country to legalize euthanization, has more than doubled their euthanized population by 2009” (Carthrite 3).

In the state of Oregon only an adult resident that has the mental capacity to make this type of decision, has been diagnosed with a terminal disease, and has voluntarily expressed their desire to die may submit a written request for medication to end their life in a dignified manner (Oregon Revised Statute, 1994). It should be considered cruel to deny any terminally ill person that opportunity. Some doctors feel assisted suicide is a good option but do not want to write the prescription themselves, so they will send the patient elsewhere. Abandoning their patient because “doctors prize their self-image above the patient’s needs” (Angell, 2014, para. 9). A doctor stating that physician assisted suicide is a good option but refers the patient to a different doctor to prevent their name from being on the prescription is a good foundation for an unethical situation.

Assisted suicide is a rather controversial issue in contemporary society. When a terminally ill patient formally requests to be euthanized by a board certified physician, an ethical dilemma arises. Can someone ethically end the life of another human being, even if the patient will die in less than six months? Unlike traditional suicide, euthanasia included multiple individuals including the patient, doctor, and witnesses, where each party involved has a set of legal responsibilities. In order to understand this quandary and eventually reach a conclusion, each party involved must have their responsibilities analyzed and the underlying guidelines of moral ethics must be investigated.

In this case, and many others worldwide, physician assisted suicide is morally permissible at all ages for anyone with a terminal illness with a prognosis of 6 months. This is supported by act based utilitarianism and the idea of maximizing pleasure and reducing pain and suffering on an individual circumstance. By allowing a terminal patient to die a less painful death, in control of the situation, and with dignity, the patient will have amplified