Differences Between Euthanasia And Physician Assisted Suicide

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Physician assisted suicide is a relatively new topic that is causing a lot of discussion about the ethics and legal right for a person to choose to end their life. This continues to be a controversial topic in the healthcare field because research and medicine are evolving constantly, bringing about changes in societies view on death. As a member in the healthcare field it is important to explore alternatives for ones end of life care and understand the perspectives that society comprises about physician assisted suicide. It is important to first define the differences between euthanasia, physician assisted suicide (PSA) and palliative care as they have some similarities, but their implications are vastly different. Euthanasia is defined as, “a physician (or other person) intentionally killing a person by the administration of drugs at that person’s voluntary and competent request.” (Palliative Medicine, 2016, p. 108). Euthanasia can either be passive, where life-sustaining treatments are withheld, or active, where lethal substances or forces are used to end a patient’s life (Nordqvist, 2016). Physician Assisted Suicide is defined as “a doctor intentionally helping a person terminate his or her life by intentionally providing self-administrating drugs, at that person’s voluntary and competent request” (Yang & Curlin, 2016). The World Health Organization defines palliative care as “an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problem associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual,” (WHO, 2016). When patients are considering PAS as a treatment for end of life care, it is important to look at why the patient is considering this. Most patients that are considering PSA are diagnosed with a terminally ill disease with imminent death or at the ending segment of their diagnosis. Some patients may turn to PAS as a means to end pain and suffering. However the nurse needs to further explore if there are measures that could be taken to eliminate the pain and suffering, or if the pain and suffering are unavoidable. It is the nurse’s duty to help educate the patient and family members about the options that are available to them regardless of how taboo some questions may seem during this process. Since this can be an emotional process, the nurse needs to provide a trusting and safe environment so the patient will be comfortable enough to bring up unthinkable questions, such as choosing to end their own life. Regardless of how the nurse views PAS, they need to provide accurate education and resources to assist the patient in choosing what treatment they want. When a patient is considering physician assisted suicide, health professionals, as well as some of society, believe these patients are not making a sound judgment. To help protect the patient and make sure they are making sound judgments, there are criteria that the patient must meet before obtaining a prescription. To obtain a prescription, the patient must be a resident of California, Oregon, Vermont or Washington, 18 years of age or older, mentally competent and “diagnosed with a terminal illness that will, within reasonable medical judgment, lead to death within six months,” ("How to Access," n.d.). The patient also has to be able to self-administer and ingest the medication and be assessed by two physicians to determine …show more content…
Once a state legalizes the law, physicians either refuse aid to patients who are set on killing themselves, or violate their professions code of ethics. A physician has a role of being a healer and choosing to participate in PAS would go against 2,000 years of medical ethics, making it hard to control and pose risks to the profession (Lagay, 2003). Risks such as having federal narcotic licenses suspended or revoked; therefore creating problems for physicians who prescribe narcotics for management of end of life pain (Lagay, 2003). However, physicians that do participate claim their participation comes from “helping a patient who is determined to end his or her life prevents a greater harm than it causes,” (Lagay, 2003). And some believe that the physical and mental anguish that a patient would not recover from does not violate the spirit or goals of medical ethics when a patient requests the service (Lagay,

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