Ethical Dilemma Of Physician Assisted Suicide

One of the many ethical dilemmas surrounding health care today is physician assisted suicide. Many will misinterpret this as Euthanasia because they both accomplish the same goal, causing the death of a person. However, physician assisted suicide is different because of the way that death is accomplished. Boudreau and Somerville (2014) explain that, “In assisted suicide, the person takes the death-inducing product; in euthanasia, another individual administers it” (p. 2). The physician in the case of physician assisted suicide is removed from the actual act of death. However, the physician is still prescribing the medications for the individual to commit suicide, so the physician is still very much involved and ultimately has the final say …show more content…
A large controversy is patients suffering from dementia. Do they know what they are asking for and are these temporary thoughts from their diagnosis? The primary nurse and physician should evaluate the patient’s cognitive state. Dementia produces multiple cognitive impairments and memory loss. People that suffer from dementia may not be able to perform many activities of daily living like getting dressed, house cleaning, cooking, driving, and paying bills. Some people may even suffer from urinary and fecal incontinence. Menzel and Steinbock (2013) say, “a severe dementia one is unable to speak daily more than 5-6 words at all or more than two words clearly, and one lacks either the ability to walk, to sit up, to hold up one’s head, or to smile” (p. 486). So we have to ask if that person is mentally stable enough to make that decision even though their quality of life may be very …show more content…
Much similar to a family making the difficult decision of pulling the cord, it ultimately benefits the patient and it would be selfish to make their family member go through that. If they are an organ donor their vital organs can be saved and used to save other patients, and the nurse or doctor can move onto another patient that has a chance to live(This sentence is very harsh. Maybe put the health care team can help save another patient who wants to live). Another benefit is health care costs can be reduced. Advocates for physician assisted suicide say that the patients would know that it was their choice and that they were ready to die (Put they say, make it more factual. Would say leaves the reader guessing if they said it and makes it more arguable). This choice also means patients can die with dignity. Without physician assisted suicide many people may resort to committing the act themselves resulting in a traumatic event for their loved ones when they find them