FREE ESSAY ON WHY NOT HAVE PHYSICIAN ASSISTED SUICIDE?

WHY NOT HAVE PHYSICIAN ASSISTED SUICIDE?

Term Paper
May 3, 2000
Why Not Have Physician Assisted Suicide?
During the course of the past 20 years, many people are starting to here more and more
situations about people participating in physician-assisted suicide. The fact of the
matter is that people are starting to believe that they have the right to control their
own life and death decisions. After you begin to think about physician-assisted suicide,
and bring in all the facts, it becomes clear that it should be allowed in our society if
it is used properly. 
Many people question the pure definition of physician-assisted suicide. According to the
University of Washington School of Medicine, physician-assisted suicide refers to the
physician providing the means for death, most often with a prescription, in which the
patient administers the medication (Ethics in Medicine). As of 1997 the State of Oregon
was the only state that utilize legalized physician-assisted suicide. Some people argue
whether this practice is ethical to use today in our society. One strong reason why this
should be done is because it is a good choice for people who are suffering unbearably. At
times many physicians believe that it is their duty to relieve these people of their
problems. 
One of the most famous arguments in favor of physician -assisted suicide is the story by
Timothy Quill, and his patient Diane. Diane was a woman who was diagnosed with leukemia;
from the beginning she refused the aggressive treatment. She then requested a
prescription of barbiturates that could be used to end her life if she determined that
her suffering had become unbearable (Annals of Internal Medicine). Diane was enrolled in
a hospice program, many months passed but she began to feel a lot of pain, and fatigue.
She used the barbiturates that her doctor gave her and ended her life. This was a very
good case in favor of the practice because this woman was in serious pain, and the best
solution was to end her life. 
Another example of a physician-assisted suicide incident that attracted some attention on
the issue occurred with a 37-year-old woman named BB. This woman had a serious stroke and
soon after she became quadriplegic and unable to speak (Annals of Internal Medicine). She
spent many days learning to communicate with others around her by using a special
computer. Finding her life quality of life intolerable, she repeatedly communicated a
wish to die (Annals of Internal Medicine). She underwent some psychiatric counseling, and
they agreed that she had the ability to do her own decision-making. So the staff took
away all of her artificial nutrition and hydration, and only provided comfort and care
until she passed away soon after (Annals of Internal Medicine). BB, like Diane, was also
a prime example of a patient that was in need of physician-assisted suicide; she could no
longer go through life the way she was and all she wanted was to die. Many of these
patients bring up some important arguments for their reasons in which they have the right
to use physician-assisted suicide.
The University of Washington School of Medicine states that there are many arguments in
favor of physician -assisted suicide or (PAS). The first of the four arguments in favor
of PAS is the respect for autonomy of the patient. This means that the decisions about
the circumstances for death are very personal. They also state that a competent person
should have the right to choose death(Ethics in Medicine). The next argument for PAS is
regarding to justice. Justice requires that we treat like cases alike. Competent,
terminally ill patients are allowed to hasten death by treatment refusal. For some
patients, treatment refusal will not suffice to hasten death, and the only option is
suicide. Justice requires that we should allow assisted death for these patients (Ethics
in Medicine). The third argument is the issue of compassion, according to the University
of Washington School of Medicine. They explain that it is not always possible to relieve
suffering, and PAS may be a compassionate response to that suffering of the Patients. The
Individual liberty vs. state interest is one of the strongest arguments for PAS. A
complete elimination of assisted death limits personal liberty of the individual. This is
one of the main concerns about PAS, people believe that it is their body, and they should
have the right to do what ever they feel is necessary. 
These are common arguments that have been used by patients and physicians all over the
country. People against the issue of PAS debate many of these arguments and have come up
with their own scenarios on the issue. Some common arguments against the PAS are when you
take a human life, it is morally wrong because of a certain religion (Ethics In
Medicine). Another argument is that some medical doctors like to maintain their
professional integrity and are opposed to taking human life. Herbert Hendin states in his
article Selling Death and Dignity, that  We should not buy into the view that those who
are engulfed by fear of death or by suicidal despair that death is a preferred solution
to the problems of illness, age, and depression(Hendin 78). 
These arguments that are stated against physician-assisted suicide don't seem to be
strong enough to turn my feelings away from the idea that it is justified. In response to
Hendin's statement, he has no idea of all the pain and suffering that is happening to
people, and what they go through. Religion is also an argument that doesn't make much
sense to me. The right thing to do if a patient is suffering from a serious illness or
basically living on a plug, is to give them the opportunity to die the way they want and
not worry about whether it is morally right, according to a religion. Also the argument
made on behalf of some doctors, that it harms their professional integrity is also false.
These ill patients think of their doctors as relieving them from pain and suffering.
Death is not caused by the withdraw of treatment from the physician, but by the
underlying disease(Annals of Medicine). Therefore, these ill patients are going to die
either way, so the doctors shouldn't feel that it is unprofessional to end a patient's
life if it is requested. One reason why people don't want to let the PAS practice
legalized is because they cannot find a certain policy to use it under. 
Physician-assisted suicide is debated upon regularly today and does not seem to be
allowed in most states. One reason for this is because If it is legalized and it doesn't
have restrictions, there will be cases in which people will be going to the doctor to end
their life for poor reasons. This form of PAS is unacceptable and that is why there
should be a strict policy on the issue. If a patient goes to a doctor and asked for this
procedure to be done, the physicians most look into the law on physician-assisted
suicide. This policy should state that the practice can only be done if the patient has a
serious illness, that is life threatening and undergoing massive amounts of pain, or lost
some form of physical and mental abilities, from an illness such as a stroke. Another
thing that would be included in this policy is that the patient requesting the practice
must undergo some sort of psychiatric counseling to see whether he or she is in the right
mind set for the procedure. This is important part of the policy, because PAS shouldn't
be performed if the patient is suffering only from some sort of depression. This policy
will sort out the people who need the PAS and those who really don't need it.
This type of policy on physician-assisted suicide should be acted on in our government.
Far too many people suffer, lying in hospital beds, wishing for an answer to their
problems. They have lived a long enough, suffered physically, and emotionally, as Diane
did in Timothy E. Quill's article Death and Dignity: A Case of Individualized Decision
Making. We have measures to help control pain and lesson suffering, to think that people
do not suffer in the process of dying is an allusion(Quill 70), so we should not let this
suffering continue on for people, and give them the choice to end their lives if they
feel that is what they want. 
Works Cited
American College of Physicians, Annals of Internal Medicine.
1996-2000. http://www.acponline.org/journals/annals/21mar00/miller.htm
Hendin, Herbert. Selling Death and Dignity.
Hastings Center Report, vol. 25 no.3 (May-June 1995).
Quill, Timothy. Death and Dignity: A Case of Individualized Decision Making.
The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 324, no. 10 (March 7, 1991).
University of Washington School of Medicine. Ethics in Medicine.
1998. http://eduserv.hscer.washington.edu/bioethics/topics/pas.html