(Foley, 54; Braddock and Tonnelli). This again, is an argument based more on conjecture rather than solid evidence. While it is true that depression may accompany many serious and terminal diseases and there are anecdotes about patients who changed their minds about suicide after treatment; no credible studies are available about how often it happens or even if antidepressant treatment would make patients requesting death, change their minds. (Angell, 52)
Kathleen Foley, in her article "Competent Care for the Dying Instead of Physician-Assisted Suicide" observes that advances in modern medicine have made it possible to alleviate almost all kinds of pain and even when it is not possible to eliminate pain entirely; lessening it to a manageable level is almost always possible. She, therefore, feels that the problem is lack of proper pain management training for doctors and the solution is greater access to pain relieving medicine for everyone, rather than a need for physician-assisted suicide (Foley, 53). There is no arguing with the suggestion that every effort must be made by a doctor to relieve the pain of a patient and the best available palliative care be provided to them. However, there are many terminal conditions such as full-blown AIDS and several forms of cancer in which no amounts of medicines can alleviate the nausea and pain. In such cases, no one except the patient herself can decide whether her suffering is bearable or unbearable. If a patient requests help from her physician to end her suffering by hastening a dignified death in such circumstance, the only humane thing for the physician to do would be to accede to the request.
The anti-PAS lobby has also contend that people who want to end their lives, have the choice of committing suicide themselves rather than asking for assistance in suicide from physicians. This is perhaps the most callous argument of all. Peter Rogatz counters this objection with an appropriate query: "Are patients to shoot themselves, jump from a window, starve themselves to death, or rig a pipe to the car exhaust?" (Rogatz, 33) Terminally ill, bed-ridden patients usually do not have the energy...
Physician-Assisted Suicide: The Kantian View Thanks to modern developments in medical technology, people in advanced countries today live longer and stay healthy until they are relatively older. The technology, however, also allows some people to hasten their death and make it relatively pain-free. As a result, many patients suffering from unbearable pain of certain incurable illnesses from time to time ask their physicians to help them commit suicide. Any physician who
Physician-Assisted Suicide Should it be permissible for one to take his life? Previously and now in many cultures, suicide has been considered as a best option in some certain situations of life. For example, in flashback we see Cato the Younger took away his life instead of living under Caesar. For stoics, suicide was a preferred and rational act and there was nothing immoral in suicide instead it was a best option
Physician-assisted suicide is a humane approach to dying and should be adopted legally in all states. Anyone who is terminally ill should have the right to choose how they die, specifically since they face death every day. Physician-assisted suicide is no more harmful than other methods of patient care that address patients needs, rights and desires. Given the fact that most terminally ill patients have a limited life to live,
Physician-Assisted Suicide, And Active Euthanasia In Favor of the Moral Permissibility of Active Physician-Assisted Suicide According to Mappes and DeGrazia, Brock's support for voluntary active euthanasia is largely based on two ethical values that he regards fundamental (402). The values in this case include the well-being of an individual and individual autonomy or self-determination. Self-determination according to Brock has got to do with letting individuals chart their own destiny, that is, allowing
In an article in the British journal Lancet, the doctor stated that he liked Helen right off the bat, and then issued this statement: The thought of Helen dying so soon was almost too much to bear… on the other hand, I found even worse the thought of disappointing this family. If I backed out, they'd feel about me the way they had about their previous doctor, that I had
Perhaps the most reasonable objection to physician-assisted suicide relates to the subjective element of quality of life and the degree to which that perception (on the part of the patient) is susceptible to temporary influence, such as from clinical depression or temporary physical pain or disability. To overcome that objection, it would be necessary to outline objective principles and guidelines capable of allowing physician-assisted suicide in justifiable situations while
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