Sydney Christensen Lynn Taylor English 1010 28 December 2013 The End

Christensen 1

The average percent of terminally ill patients who die in pain is 55% (euthanasia statistics). Physician assisted suicide, or euthanasia, should be a right that is given to the terminally ill. Most people in society either are strongly against euthanasia or strongly for it. What society needs to put in mind is the situation these terminally ill patients are in. These people are not strong enough to commit suicide themselves or they would. The painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or an irreversible coma (definition) in the 5th Century B.C. the ancient Greeks and Romans had tended to accept euthanasia. Physicians would perform frequent abortions as well as voluntary and involuntary killings. Currently in the U.S. euthanasia is illegal in every state besides Oregon. Many People argue that if euthanasia is legalized it will turn into a benefit of terminating a life rather than a need to end their suffering. Yes, consequences are likely to occur, but then do we just disregard the patients wishes to end the suffering and pass on. These people have a right to choose whether to live in pain or die in peace. It is our duty to do as they wish. In 1997, The Death With Dignity Act (DWDA_ was put into place to allow terminally ill adults to purchase and use lethal doses of medications. (Death With Dignity Act). After three years of Washington enacting the PWDA, Only 255 people had the lethal prescription, prescribed to them from a physician. Out of the 255 only 24 patients used their prescription (Gordon). Those who were apart of the study were mostly married white males with a high school degree or higher. All were diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Christensen 2 Dr. Gary Kennedy, director of genetic psychiatry at Monteflore Medical center in New York City, noted that white males have a higher than normal suicide rate, even without terminal diagnosis. He also said he thought Seattle Cancer Care Alliance took great care to be as neutral as they could, So that it was up to the patients to pursue physician assisted death. This study proves that if physician assisted suicide was legalized, it would not turn in to a mad suicide rush for the terminally ill. The people who have faced this decision have not taken it lightly. As long as this option is not advertised I believe it could be very beneficial to the patients and there families who are suffering. In the past euthanasia or physician assisted suicide has gotten a bad press. From Dr. Kevorkian miss use of these powerful drugs, on patients who did not meet the requirements of being competent and diagnosed as terminally ill, to families trying to inherit money from a loved one passing. This issues will always be brought up, but the fact of the matter is patients are suffering. They are being put in rest homes where they are not cared for and most of the time abused. These people are weak and powerless and do not have the ability to fight back. We as a nation should help to fight back for them, by stoping the abuse and suffering by allowing them to decide they way they want to die, not they way we want them to die. It is their right not to suffer and to be at peace. The argument made that if physician assisted suicide was legalized it would give doctors the right to kill, and the physicians who have participated in this practices have been branded as murderers. Which is both illogical and inflammatory. Disconnecting a ventilator at the patients request-is excepted by society, but this requires a more definitive act by a physician than prescribing a drug, that in the end is the patients decision to take. Rather then characterizing this as killing, we should see it as putting a end to ones suffering. The physician who complies to

Christensen 3 the patients plea for relief from their suffering is doing good, not harm, and his or her actions are only as the same as disconnecting a ventilator. It is argued that requests for assisted suicide come largely from patients who have not received adequate pain control and are clinically depressed and havent been properly diagnosed or treated. There is no doubt that proper management of such conditions would significantly reduce the number of patients who consider suicide; any sanctioning of assistance should be contingent upon prior management of pain and depression. However, treatable pain is not the only reason, or even the most common reason, why patients seek to end their lives. Intractable vomiting, urinary and bowel incontinence, immobility, and total dependence are recognized as more important than pain in the desire for hastened death. There is a growing awareness of the loss of ones dignity, and those attributes that we associate with being a human. This most commonly puts patients in the state of unrelieved misery and desperation. It is argued that permitting physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia would make patients lose trust in their physician. This is not a valid argument; patients are not laying in bed wondering if here physician is going to kill them, and permitting assisted suicide should not create such fears, since the act of administering a fatal dose would be in the hands of the patient. Rather than losing trust, I would expect the legalization of physician-assisted suicide to enhance trust between patient and physician. I have spoken to some peers who feel that they would like to trust that their physicians would provide such help in the event of unrelieved suffering, and making that possible can create a better sense of security. A patient contemplating suicide would be much less likely to take such a step if he or she were confident of receiving assistance in the future if desired. A study was carried out by the University of Washington School of Medicine, which involved 828 physicians and with the response of 57 percent. Of these respondents, 12 percent

Christensen 4 reported receiving one or more requests for assisted suicide, and one-fourth of the patients received prescriptions. So as you can see again as I explained earlier, as long as assisted suicide is monitored, there will be no slippery slop. I believe that by legalizing physician assistance, rather than opening the flood gate off ill advised suicides, is likely to reduce the incentive for suicide. Patients who fear great suffering in the final stages of illness can have the assurance that help would be available if needed and they would be more willing to test their own strengths through treatment and withstand the trials ahead. Life is the most precious gift of all, and no sane person would want to give it up, but there are some circumstances where life has lost its value. A competent person who has thoughtfully considered his or her own situation and finds that their suffering outweighs the value of continued life shouldnt have to find drastic and violent solutions when more merciful means exist. Those physicians who choose to fulfill what they perceive to be their responsibility to their patients, shouldnt be characterized as murderers. There is no risk-free solution to these very sensitive problems. However, I believe that reasonable protections can be put in place that will minimize the risk of abuse and that physicianassisted suicide outweigh that risk. All physicians are bound by the injunction to do no harm, but we must recognize that harm may not only result from the commissions of a wrongful act but also from the omission of an act of mercy. While not every physician will feel comfortable offering help in these tragic situations, many believe it is right to do so and our society should not criminalize such humanitarian acts.