Essay on Physician-Assisted Suicide

Physician- assisted suicide was first popularized in 1997 by the Oregon Death with Dignity Act (ODDA) . This act states that a physician has the power to prescribe a lethal amount of medication to terminally ill patients. However, the patients must have the knowledge of upcoming death. In order to receive the medication the patient must, be over eighteen years of age, a resident of Oregon, and must orally ask for the prescription twice. The oral requests must be fifteen days apart. The patient's physician and a consulting physician must agree that the patient is mentally capable of making such a

Physician-assisted suicide can be described as the act of a terminally ill individual obtaining a lethal prescription in order to exercise their right to die with dignity. Though physician-assisted suicide is highly controversial, it is legally practiced in a small number of states within the United States. Much of the controversy surrounding physician-assisted suicide relates to the social, political, and ethical questions and considerations concerning the practice. Regardless

Support for the participation of physicians in the suicides of terminally ill patients is increasing. Much of the controversy surrounding physician-assisted suicide however focuses on the debate over whether the practice should be legalized. A woman suffering from cancer became the first person known to die under the law of physician-assisted suicide in March of 1998. In 1994, voters in Oregon approved a referendum called the Death with Dignity Act, which was enacted in 1997. This law allows patients who have been given six months or less to live that wish to hasten their deaths to obtain lethal doses of medication prescribed by two doctors. Between 1998 and 2000, ninety-six lethal prescriptions were written, and seventy patients took the

their patients, or to assist them in ending their lives? Many people may believe that physicians would never perform the latter, but in actuality one practice does so. Physician assisted suicide is the intentional ending of one’s life brought on by lethal substances prescribed by a doctor. In the majority of cases, the patient is terminally ill and simply does not desire to live any longer. Their physician provides the medication necessary to end their life. Many supporters aver that this practice is merely an act of compassion as terminally ill persons may suffer extreme pain that eradicates any will to live. They also assert that the decision to die is of the patient’s

Is physician assisted suicide ethical? Physician assisted suicide is an up and coming ethical question that examines a person’s right to their own death. Many people support physician assisted suicide, citing that it can save a lot of pain and suffering. Others claim that the concept of physician assisted suicide is a slippery slope. A slippery slope in the sense that if society accepts euthanasia as a rightful death for the terminally ill, they will potentially accept it for other ailments as well.

Ezekiel Emanuel once said, “Physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia have been profound ethical issues confronting doctors since the birth of Western medicine, more than 2,000 years ago.” Physician assisted suicide (PAS) should be available as a dignified option for the terminally ill because it can be built in to the palliative care plan formulated by patient and Doctor, may alleviate some medical costs for the incurable, and it’s a moderated and humane way to end a person’s suffering.

Dr. Jack Kevorkian may have been onto something though. Today, physician-assisted suicide is legal in one state: Oregon. Medical Doctor Suzan Okie stated that Oregon has a set of laws for assisted suicide. The patient must be 17 or older, be able to communicate and make decisions, be terminally ill with less than six months to live, and the request must be written and spoken orally. If the doctor is suspicious of the decision, a psychiatrist can evaluate the patient’s mental condition (1627).

A woman suffering from cancer became the first person known to die under the law on physician-assisted suicide in the state of Oregon when she took a lethal dose of drugs in March, 1998. The Oregon Death with Dignity Act passed a referendum in November, 1997, and it has been the United States ' only law legalizing assisted suicide since then. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, more than 4,000 doctors have approved of the assisted suicide law (cited in "The Anguish of Doctors,” 1996). The law allows terminally ill patients who have been given six months or less to live and wish to hasten their deaths to obtain medication prescribed by two doctors. The most important thing to notice is that this law does not include those who have been on a life support system nor does it include those who have not voluntarily asked physicians to help them commit suicide. The issue of doctor-assisted suicide has been the subject of the heated dispute in recent years. Many people worry that legalizing doctor assisted suicide is irrational and violates the life-saving tradition of medicine. However, physician-assisted suicide should be legalized because it offers terminally ill people an opportunity for a peaceful death and recognized the inadequacy of current medical practice to deal with death.

The Oregon Death with Dignity Act was put into effect on October 27, 1997. This act allowed physicians to prescribe to terminally ill patients a lethal dose of medication in order to hasten their death, even though euthanasia is prohibited in the United States. According to Katrina Hedberg, this act has been revised by Oregon legislature, but has still been brought to attention of the United States Supreme Court on raised questions of legality. In order to receive a prescription for the Death with Dignity Act, the patient must reside in Oregon, be a terminally ill adult, and should be expected to die within a six-month time frame. Along with these requirements, patients must be able to make their own healthcare decisions. Katrina Hedberg found that over the course of ten years, physicians had written 546 prescriptions and a total of 341 Oregon residents passed away after the lethal dose under this act. The medications that were prescribed during this time were secobarbital and pentobarbital, and most patients would pass away within an hour of taking pentobarbital. Many physicians have reported that patients who requested these prescriptions often had a loss of autonomy and a decrease in their ability to engage in activities that they enjoyed. The results showed that these factors had increased over the course of ten years. According to physicians, patient’s concerns of pain had also increased during this time. This is still very controversial, but findings have shown that

Oregon. According to Daniel E. Brannon and his article “Gonzales v. Oregon (2006)”, this case was brought to attention thirty-one years after the United States had passed the Controlled Substance Act of 1970 when “the U.S. attorney general attempted to issue an interpretation...which would would prevent physicians from administering the drugs necessary for the assisted suicide process” (2011). The attorney general, John Ashcroft, deemed physician-assisted suicide as an illegitimate medical practice and any doctor who practiced it “would have their license revoked” (Brannon, 2011). Often, the act is seen as illegitimate because people believe that it is unethical to end one's own life. In cases like murder, it extremely wrong because the dying person had no consent, but when the patient gives consent and has the ultimate power in taking the medication, they should have the right to proceed.

During the first year the death with dignity act went into effect in Oregon, just fifteen people ended their life through the process of euthanasia. In 1997, a group of people rallied to undermine the death with dignity act with a statute called measure fifty-one but the citizens of Oregon rejected the measure proving that the men and women of Oregon demand this right and want the death with dignity act to stay in place ("Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia Timeline"). Sixty-one physicians wrote prescriptions for lethal doses of medication in Oregon in the year 2012 for the purpose of euthanasia, displaying the willingness of experienced medical professionals to assist patients in dying with dignity ("Prescription for Suicide" 1). Washington became the second state to legalize assisted suicide in November of 2008, and Montana followed suit on January second, 2010. Finally, Vermont legalized assisted suicide in May of 2013, becoming the fourth and final state to emulate support for death with dignity. The precise reason that more states do not make dying with dignity a legal option is complicated, but one factor that does contribute to the rejection of assisted suicide legislation is the concerns about the safety and ethicality of euthanasia ("Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia Timeline"). The reality of these concerns is that the regulations regarding assisted suicide are proving to work impeccably as noted by the Canada Compassion and Choices

Physician assisted suicide consists of a doctor intentionally providing a patient with the means to commit suicide. It continues to be a controversial issue that is facing our state’s legislatures and is presently legal in only four states including Oregon, Washington, Vermont, and just recently, California. Anna Gorman, an author for Kaiser Health News, published an article in USA Today titled “Disabled Right Advocates Fight Assisted Suicide Legislation.” Gorman’s article explains the dangers of a proposed legislation in California that would legalize prescriptions for terminally ill patients to end their lives. The bill was passed and will be effective for ten years. In her article, Gorman interviews four people who believe that physician

The federal legalization of physician-assisted suicide is a conflict of ethics. This is one reason the problem has yet to be resolved. There are multiple sides to this argument. Some people want the government to mandate the legalization of physician-assisted suicide while others believe the practice to be morally unacceptable. Then there are those who do not have enough knowledge on the issue to have an opinion at all. This issue that needs to be brought to Americans’ attention sooner rather than later, because more Americans are being given the opportunity to vote on the topic.

Death with Dignity allows patients who are suffering from severe illness to hasten inevitable death. In Oregon, a patient who is requesting PSA must make two oral and one written request. In the article, “Oregon Shows That Assisted Suicide Can Work Sensibly and Fairly,” Thaddeus Mason Pope states that the PSA was rejected by many but Oregon has proven that there is a safe and effective response to patients who are suffering and want to pass

When diagnosed with a deadly disease, it’s important to give the sickly control over their own life. James H. Ondrey edited the, “Introduction to Physician-Assisted Suicide: At Issue" in 2006, which says on page 1 of his article,"...rather than a physician or some other person doing the killing, the patient (or affected) performs the act that leads to death, therefore the doctor only supplies the means to bring about that person’s death. In the United States, physician-assisted suicide is currently only legal in the state of Oregon. “...dying people should have the right to control the timing of their death and should be permitted to obtain a doctor's help in doing so.” Based on the previous quote, we must understand that people who prefer a longer life to an easier