Thus the choice is not "save money by allowing patients to die." The choice is, rather, "allow patients to die rather than taking heroic measures, and redeploy these scarce resources to improve overall healthcare, quality of life and lifespan."

Nurses are required, as one of the 9 conditions of their oath, to triage and rationalize the giving of healthcare. If an ER nurse, for example, has a series of patients with whom she can only deal one at a time, he/she must make the 'triage' decision to focus on the patient who can benefit from his/her care the most.

That means that not all patients can receive the same level of care.

Lost in the debate about Oregon's "right to die" legislation is that the State of Oregon also embarked on a thoroughgoing analysis of healthcare rationing. The state disallowed a number of categories of medical treatment, and cut back on a number…...

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Bibliography

Crisci, M. (2001). Attitudes towards death and dying in a representative sample of the Italian population. Palliative Medicine, 372-378.

EIU. (2007). World Economic Glossary 2008. London: Economist.

Journal. (1981). Our Changing Attitude towards Death. The Journal of Popular Culture, 741-743.

Klein, E. (2007). The Health of Nations: How Europe, Canada, and our own VA do health care better. The American Prospect, n.p.

A patient can rescind a request at any time and in any manner. The attending physician will also offer the patient an opportunity to rescind his/her request at the end of the 15-day waiting period following the initial request to participate. (Oregon "Death With Dignity" FAQ)
Additionally, there are reporting requirements, on the part of the physician. The state has consciously set about to track the utilization of the law and make adjustments accordingly. "Physicians must report all prescriptions for lethal medications to the Department of Human Services, Vital ecords. As of 1999, pharmacists must be informed of the prescribed medication's ultimate use." (Oregon "Death With Dignity" FAQ)

The individual, physician and witnesses must contest that the patient must not appear to be suffering from any psychological disorder that would impair his or her judgment or decision making processes. The criteria that an individual must meet to participate in the act…...

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References

Alemayehu, B., and K.E. Warner, (2004) "The Lifetime Distribution of Health Care Costs," Health Services Research 39: 627-42.

Botterman, M., Anderson, R.H., Van Binst, P., Cave, J., Libicki, M., Ligtvoet, a., et al. (2003). Enabling the Information Society by Stimulating the Creation of a Broadband Environment in Europe: Analyses of Evolution Scenarios for Future Networking Technologies and Networks in Europe / . Santa Monica, CA: Rand.

Definitions for 127.800 s.1.01. Oregon Department of Human Services. Retrieved October 2, 2006 at  http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/pas /ors.shtml.

Foss, N.J. (2005). Strategy, Economic Organization, and the Knowledge Economy: The Coordination of Firms and Resources. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Both doctors feel physician-assisted suicide is a compassionate alternative to living the remainder of life filled with pain and suffering. Many others agree, and there are even published documents instructing loved ones and physicians how to go about assisting in a death with dignity suicide. In fact, many physicians feel that physician-assisted suicide could help keep health care costs in check as the baby-boomer generation ages. Unfortunately, statistics are lacking in the area of terminally ill patients and how many would end their lives if given the choice. Statistics do show, however, that many physicians receive requests for medications that will hasten death, or requests for lethal injections, and that a small number to comply in some cases.
Many physicians oppose the practice because they feel it goes against the oath they took to always save lives, while some do sympathize with terminally ill patients. here are also similar considerations…...

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Two of the most well-known advocates of physician-assisted suicide are Dr. Jack Kevorkian and Dr. Timothy Quill. Moral conservatives oppose euthanasia because they believe it is morally wrong, and is the same as ending life-sustaining treatment. Both doctors feel physician-assisted suicide is a compassionate alternative to living the remainder of life filled with pain and suffering. Many others agree, and there are even published documents instructing loved ones and physicians how to go about assisting in a death with dignity suicide. In fact, many physicians feel that physician-assisted suicide could help keep health care costs in check as the baby-boomer generation ages. Unfortunately, statistics are lacking in the area of terminally ill patients and how many would end their lives if given the choice. Statistics do show, however, that many physicians receive requests for medications that will hasten death, or requests for lethal injections, and that a small number to comply in some cases.

Many physicians oppose the practice because they feel it goes against the oath they took to always save lives, while some do sympathize with terminally ill patients. There are also similar considerations for nurses and pharmacists who might be involved in the assisted suicide. The most famous proponent of physician-assisted suicide is Dr. Jack Kevorkian, now serving a prison sentence for the practice in Michigan.

The Supreme Court has upheld Oregon's right to die act, while striking down other rulings in other states. Their latest decision recognizes this is a state issue, rather than a federal one. The Oregon Act originated in 1994, and was finally passed in 1997. Since then, it has undergone several legal challenges, but continues to be upheld in the courts. It is interesting to note that in an Oregon study, not everyone who requests a lethal dosage of medication actually ingests the medication and dies. Some choose to keep their lethal dosage, and some die before they can use it. The numbers of requests for lethal doses each year have remained stable, as well.

What the physician must take into account when approving the lethal medication is more than just the patient's state of mind and medical condition. The patient's family can and should be taken into consideration. Any patient whose family strongly and vocally opposes the physician-assisted suicide might have a more difficult time convincing a physician that the choice to euthanize is the right one.
In addition to supporting the rights of the patient and his or her family and also protecting the doctor from being persecuted for a physician-assisted suicide, an important parameter of the act is education. The Act demands that statistics and data be gathered as part of an ongoing research initiative. The Oregon state government and any interested think tank, university, or public policy organization to learn from the statistics gathered as a requisite part of the Death with Dignity Act. One of the main objectives of the…...

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References

Death with Dignity Act National Center. Retrieved July 25, 2008 at  http://www.deathwithdignity.org/ 

State of Oregon (nd). Death with Dignity Act. Retrieved July 25, 2008 at  http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/pas

death: suicide, euthanasia and the death penalty. Looking at certain aspects of each and discussing the issues concerning society. Also providing a sociological out look and economic basis for the arguments.
Death: Three Chances

Suicide is not a new phenomenon it has been around as long as mankind. The causes of suicide have been discussed on many occasions, and different theories have merged regarding the reason for which someone would commit suicide. There have been many studies undertaken in order to understand the phenomena in greater detail. Certain social factors were identified as being causal or contributing to this phenomenon, and suicides was broken down into different types, with different causes.

Henslin just as Durkheim before has looked at suicide, which Durkheim defined as any action which, leads subsequently to the death of the individual, either through positive action, such as hanging oneself or shooting oneself, or by way of negative action,…...

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References

Conwell Yeates, MD; Caine Eric D., MD 'Rational Suicide and the Right to Die: Reality and Myth' (1991 Oct 10); The New England Journal of Medicine, pp 1100-1103

Callahan J 'The ethics of assisted suicide' (1994 November);Health and Social Work, Vol. 19, PP. 234-244.

Donchin, Anne Autonomy, interdependence, and assisted suicide: Respecting boundaries/crossing lines. Bioethics. 2000 Jul; Vol 14(3): 187-204.

Haralambos and Holborn, (2000), Sociology; Themes and Perspectives, London, Collins.

But as it currently stands, the practice is pervasively regarded by United States law as manslaughter, with its perpetrators subject to prosecution to the fullest extent thereof. This is why at present, the American court system "goes beyond attempting to have assisted suicide legalized. Instead, it seeks to have hastened death constitutionalized." (Marker, 6).
This speaks to one perspective on the capacity of this legislation to alleviate personal pain and suffering for those contained within Oregon's public healthcare system. The terms of the 1994 legislation are quite specific in their delineation of preconditions required for the administering of a lethal injection using a legally controlled substance. These include multiple levels of physician and witness approval concerning the patient's physical and emotional state as well as a mandatory waiting period during which the patient is enabled to reflect on the decision before reaching a final resolution. The helps to shape its…...

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Works Cited

Oregon. (1994). Death With Dignity Act. The Oregon State Website. Ret. 12/29/06  

Dying with dignity is a controversy argued in two perspectives by death scholars. Some scholars argue that dying with dignity is expiring without unnecessary physical pain while others argue that it is dying in the socially accepted ways. eaching these arguments was in light of changing health care demands and diverse customary practices. This controversy dated back to the ancient civilizations when many Greeks believed that taking one's life was better than experiencing endless suffering. This made physicians give poison to the terminally ill patients. However, with the advent of Christianity, the Hippocratic School that was against giving deadly drugs to patients acquired considerable acceptance. Therefore, euthanasia, as called in the fifteenth century was suicide and thus immoral. As time passed, reintroduction of the use of euthanasia continued, and it has even been largely accepted in various medical institutions.
In the perspective of dying with dignity as dying without any unnecessary…...

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References

Beauchamp, T.L., & Childress, J.F. (2009). Principles of biomedical ethics (6th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.

Gentzler, J. (2003). What is a death with dignity? The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 28(4), 461 -- 487.

Poroch, N.C. (2012). Kurunpa: Keeping spirit on country. Health Sociology Review, 2i (4), 383-395.

Moreover, in Perry v. Louisiana, 498 U.S. 38 (1990), the Court used that decision to bolster Louisiana's attempts to forcibly medicate a prisoner in order to make him death-eligible. If one agrees that the death penalty is a just penalty for one who has committed a capital crime, and that the reason that mentally ill defendants should not be executed is because they lack competence, then it does not seem unethical to allow them to be forcibly medicated in order to be competent. After all, in that scenario, avoiding medication could be likened to any other attempt to avoid punishment. Moreover, an organic physical disorder that arose after conviction, but that would have prevented a defendant from committing a crime, would not be sufficient reason not to execute a person on death row.
However, forced medication, especially for court appearances, may violate a defendant's Fifth Amendment right to present a…...

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References

Bonnie, R. (2007). Panetti v. Quarterman: mental illness, the death penalty, and human dignity. Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, 5, 257-283.

Fentiman, L. (1986). Whose right is it anyway? Rethinking competency to stand trial in light of the synthetically sane insanity defense. University of Miami Law Review, 40, 1109-1127.

Ford v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 399 (1986).

Panetti v. Quarterman, 127 S. Ct. 2842 (2007).

A good example is the 1985 murder of convenience store clerk Cynthia Barlieb, whose murder was prosecuted by a district attorney bent on securing execution for Barlieb's killer (Pompeilo 2005). The original trial and all the subsequent appeals forced Barlieb's family, including four young daughters, to spend 17 years in the legal process - her oldest daughter was 8 years old when Cynthia was first shot, and 25 when the process ended without a death sentence (Pompelio 2005). During those 17 years, Cynthia Barlieb's family was forced to repeatedly relive her murder.
hen a person is murdered, it is understandable that American society demands justice, particularly on behalf of the victim's family and loved ones. But we can not advocate capital punishment under the guise of protecting the interests of victims' families, and then cut those members out of the process when they do not support the death penalty. and,…...

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Works Cited

American Civil Liberties Union (2002). "ACLU Praises Supreme Court Refusal of 'Sleeping Lawyer' Case as 'Acknowledgment and Reminder' of Death Penalty Problems." Retrieved Sept. 30, 2006 at  http://www.aclu.org/capital/unequal/10466prs20020603.html .

American Civil Liberties Union (2002). "DNA testing and the death penalty." Retrieved Oct. 1, 2006 at  http://www.aclu.org/capital/innocence/10392pub20020626.html .

Amnesty International (2006). "Death penalty." Retrieved Sept. 30, 2006 at  http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/index.do .

Antonio, Michael E. (2006). "Arbitrariness and the death penalty: how the defendant's appearance during trial influences capital jurors' punishment decision." Behavioral Sciences & the Law. March 2006.Vol.24, Iss. 2.

Laws and Health Care
The health care industry has undergone massive overhaul in recent times and the impact of the laws and regulations that accompany this change have deep and resounding effects on the way professionals approach their industry. The purpose of this essay is to explain the role of governmental regulatory agencies and their effect on the health care industry.

This essay will first provide two examples of laws and regulations that have empirically demonstrated a noticeable and impactful transformation of the system. The next section of this essay is how these laws have personally affected me and my environment in Samaritan Hospital and how these regulations both serve and detract from our overall objectives of patient quality and healing those who seek our help.

Example 1: Affordable Care Act

Laws and regulations are present at many different levels within the health care industry. Private practices surely have their own rules and regulations…...

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References

Anderson, A. (2014). The Impact of the Affordable Care Act on the Health Care Workforce. The Heritage Foundation, 18 Mar 2014. Retrieved from  http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2014/03/the-impact-of-the-affordable-care-act-on-the-health-care-workforce 

Emanuel, E.J., Daniels, E.R., Fairclough, D.L., & Clarridge, B.R. (1996). Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide: attitudes and experiences of oncology patients, oncologists, and the public. The Lancet, 347(9018), 1805-1810.

McClanahan, C. (2012). Cliffs Notes Version of the ACA. Forbes, 9 July 2012. Retrieved from  http://www.forbes.com/sites/carolynmcclanahan/2012/07/09/cliffs-notes-version-of-the-affordable-care-act/ 

Pereira, J. (2012). Legalizing euthanasia or assisted suicide: the illusion of safeguards and control. Current Oncology, Apr 2011, 18 (2). Retrieved from  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3070710/

Euthanasia comes from the Greek phrase meaning "good death," ("Euthanasia" 112). The various practices that fall under the general rubric of providing a person with the means for a "good death" include physician-assisted death, also referred to as physician-assisted suicide. Until recently, all forms of euthanasia were illegal in the United States and in most other developed countries but within the past generation, these laws have been liberalized so that citizens in democratic societies increasingly have access to a "good death." Physician-assisted suicide occurs under the guidance of an experienced and qualified physician, who is not legally obliged to agree to the practice. Therefore, no coercion takes place. The doctor is not permitted legally or ethically to coerce a patient into dying prematurely and the patient is likewise not ethically or legally allowed to persuade their doctor to intervene on their behalf. hat physician-assisted death laws do allow is for…...

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Works Cited

"Euthanasia." Chapter 10.

Lee, Richard. "Kant's Four Illustrations." Retrieved online:  http://www.uark.edu/campus-resources/rlee/iethsu06/oh/k-4egs.html 

"State-by-State Guide to Physician-Assisted Suicide." Retrieved online:  http://euthanasia.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000132 

Warren, Mary Anne. "On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion."

death penalty has been a highly contentious issue in the United States, especially during the last fifty years or so. The reason for this is that human rights have become, more than ever, the basis of the American culture. The death penalty is a complex issue, relating to the rights of both the victims and the perpetrators of crime. The complexity of the issue becomes clear once again in H.L. Mencken's article, "The Penalty of Death," where the author explains the death penalty in terms of human psychology combined with human rights.
In my view, a murderer takes away the right of the victim to live. This is in the first place not a right granted to anyone, and the perpetrator should be punished in kind. Regardless of all "Christian" values and norms, the katharsis mentioned by Mencken is something that I believe should count among the rights of those…...

death toll rises in Iraq and questions are raised regarding the foreign policies practiced by the United States, books like Jack Donnelly's International Human Rights become particularly relevant. American intervention in Iraq has become one of the salient political issues of our time, one that begs a thorough investigation of the need for international human rights policies. In his book, Donnelly presents a thorough overview of the politics of human rights, tracing its role in domestic and foreign policies since the Second orld ar. In fact, the author notes that before the 1940s, international human rights were of little importance. Isolationism and strict respect for national sovereignty guided foreign relations policies and precluded nations, individuals, or organizations from taking action to promote human rights outside of their own communities. Pointing out how the Holocaust moved human rights into the realm of international politics in conjunction with a burgeoning global…...

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Works Cited

Donnelly, Jack. International Human Rights. Boulder: Westview, 1993.

Essay Topic Examples
1. The History and Evolution of the Death enalty in Texas:
     This topic explores the origins and changes of capital punishment in Texas, examining how legislative amendments, court rulings, and public opinion have shaped the use of the death penalty over time. It would also delve into the historical milestones and key cases that have influenced Texas's approach to the death penalty.

2. Racial Disparities and the Death enalty in Texas:
     This essay would scrutinize the issue of racial bias within the Texas death penalty system. By analyzing data and case studies, the essay could investigate whether certain racial groups are disproportionately sentenced to death, exploring the potential for systemic discrimination and its implications on justice.

3. The Impact of the Death enalty on Crime Rates in Texas:
     This topic focuses on whether the existence of the death penalty in Texas acts as an effective deterrent to…...

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Primary Sources

Texas Department of Criminal Justice. \"Executed Offenders.\" TDCJ, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, www.tdcj.texas.gov/death_row/dr_executed_offenders.html.

Texas Legislature. \"Code of Criminal Procedure - Chapter 43. Execution.\" Legislation Texas, statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CR/htm/CR.43.htm.

Supreme Court of Texas. \"Ex Parte Wood.\" 18 Mar. 1998, Supreme Court of Texas, www.txcourts.gov/supreme/orders-opinions/1998/march/ex-parte-wood/.

The Texas Tribune. \"The Texas Death Penalty Archive.\" The Texas Tribune, deathrow.texasarchive.org/.

Texas Governor\'s Office. \"Governor\'s Proclamation on Pursuant to Article 48.01 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.\" Governor Greg Abbott, Office of the Governor, gov.texas.gov/news/post/governor\'s-proclamation-pursuant-to-article-48.01-of-the-code-of-criminal-procedure.

young, most of us do not think about making a conscious decision to die. e look forward to years of long and healthy life, and if death ever seems appealing it is as an antidote to depression. It does not often, if ever, occur to us that there will be a time when we look forward to the "good death" promised by euthanasia.
But it is inevitable that for many of us there will come a time in our lives when suicide may indeed seem appealing because we are fighting a losing battle against a certainly fatal disease that fills our remaining days with pain and despair. In such a position many of us may wish to have our doctors help us die by prescribing for us drugs that when we ourselves take them will prove to be fatal. Or we may wish that other people should have this option…...

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Works Cited

Callahan, Daniel, "Good Strategies and Bad: Opposing physician-assisted suicide," Commonweal, December 3, 1999, sec1. 7+.

Cassel, Christine K. "AMA Guidelines for Caring for Patients in the Last Phase of Life.," CQ Researcher 7 (1997): 774. ( http://www.ama-assn.org/sci-pubs/amnews/amn_97/edit0721.htm )

Humphrey, Derek. Euthanasia: Essays and Briefings on the Right to Die. Los Angeles: Hemlock Society, 1991.  http://deathwithdignity.org/euth_us2htm .

Orric, Sarah. "House Judiciary Committee Rationale." Congressional Digest 77 (1998); 263-264.