Terminal illness

Physician-assisted suicide has been a hot debate topic for quite some time. People claim that physician-assisted suicide is just plain suicide, while some believe it is the right of the patient to end their own life when burdened by a terminal illness. Countries around the world have made physician-assisted suicide legal. The most famous country for physician-assisted suicide is the Netherlands. Here at home, the United States has five states that allow physician-assisted suicide while the other…

The articles helped understand that the use of Euthanasia can be wrong due to the moral and physical rights a person has put into their hands. However, it can be help to a person who is facing a terminal illness or disability and see the opportunity as an honorable release. Bothe sides did seem to point out that it is important that the method should be followed with a medical profession not a regular person. There was a majority that had similar views and aspects on how to look at euthanasia. I…

relief from an illness’ associated symptoms, pain, physical stress, and mental stress of a serious illness, no matter what the diagnosis is (Materstvedt, 2003). This kind of care can address and potentially change many of the factors involved in individual request for assisted suicide by providing respect, careful attention, and open and sensitive communication in the clinical setting, aiming to ease the worries that patients may have surrounding their illness and future with the illness.…

“Ira Byock, told 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft it costs up to $10,000 a day to maintain someone in the intensive care unit” (Court). Patients who live with a terminal illness are faced with thousands of bills to cover their medical expenses. In the article “The Cost of Dying” it goes into detail about patients who was receiving end of life care. “The real problem is that many of the patients that are being treated…

Euthanasia is the act of ending someone’s life (Goldberg, 1987, p. 22). This issue raises controversy, as many individuals perceive this act as a criminal homicide. The capacity to sustain human life through the use of technology and improved life support measures causes people to question the controversial topic of patients’ right to die. According to Goldberg (1987, p. 22), active euthanasia is the direct act of shortening a human being’s life, such as providing a patient with a lethal…

synopsis and collection of interviews in her book, On Death and Dying, help to explain the experiences which terminally ill people have. It is a guide for health care providers in all specialties on how to address the psycho-somatic aspect of a terminal illness. The first-hand experiences accounted by the patients in Kübler-Ross’s book give personality and identity to the stages outlined in the book. Just as people experiencing grief go through five stages, Kübler-Ross examines how terminally…

opposition comes from the principle of beneficence (doing good). A patient who chooses to kill them self is fundamentally going against everything that the health care system stands for. They also argue that a person who is suffering from chronic illness will have some mental impairment, whether it is intense depression or anxiety (P. 276). All and all, Rich and Butts (2004) adds a balanced and practical two sided argument for and against PAS. They reiterate that "rational suicide is a morally…

lab; it’s routine, we will call when the results come in.” One week later there is a call from the doctor who solemnly says he would like to meet with them in person. Upon arriving at the office the doctor says “I am sorry, but the results indicate terminal cancer.” Once the shock, and paralyzing fear subsides, what resources are there? Physician-assisted suicide is when “lethal drugs are prescribed or supplied by the physician at the patient’s request and self-administered by the patient with…

expenses. The majority of the patients’ families face economic problems, and assisted suicide can become a cost-containment option for the patient. Other emotional hardships that terminally ill people believe they cause their surroundings with their illness may also push them into PAS. Therefore, arguments against PAS propose that physician assisted suicide should be illegal in order for less potential for abuse (Humber…

when patients refuse any treatment it is just the same as letting them kill themselves. Letting them agree to assisted suicide and choose when to have it done seems to be more of a morally correct process than letting them suffer and letting the illness take their lives. If a patient meets requirements that are set in place for this treatment they should be able to do so. In the state of Oregon where physician assisted suicide is legal the requirements for someone wanting to go through with it…