Physician Assisted Suicide, When Is It Acceptable

Physician-Assisted Suicide, When is it acceptable? Assisted suicide had raised issues of great importance in the society particularly the most controversial of all, the physician assisted suicide in the health care field. Since Oregon and other states implemented the legalization of physician assisted suicide, the debates continues. The U.S. Supreme Court decisions in 1997 and the Pain Relief Promotion Act of 2000 (H.R. 5544) have kept these topics on the policy of the national agenda, along with constant patient fears and worries about the meagerness of end-of-life health care. Despite with all the issues and concerns about physician assisted suicide, what is physician-assisted suicide? Physician-assisted suicide involves a physician in both or one of the following roles: (1) providing the patient with information about how to commit suicide in an effective manner and (2) providing the means necessary for effective suicide in both or one of the following roles. It involves the participation of a physician in providing, but not directly administering. This usually means taking a lethal dosage of medication prescribed by a physician. Physician-assisted suicide is also identifiable from euthanasia. It does not mean the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining medical care that is based on patient’s refusal of treatment but rather the physician is involve in a patient where they want to end their own life . According to Beauchamp and Childress, in order for aShow MoreRelatedThe Debate Surrounding Physician-Assisted Suicide Essay1673 Words   |  7 PagesPhysician-assisted suicide is the practice in which a doctor prescribes a terminally ill patient with a lethal medication as a form of active, voluntary euthanasia. These patients, rather than suffer slowly and painfully, often request this procedure as a means of experiencing a more â€Å"dignified† death. 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This paper will go on to explain one side of this very touchy debate, it will also consider objections from the other side, and ultimately defend the position physician assisted suicide is wrong not only morally but also, ethically. My argument for this thesis is provided below: P1: Physician assisted suicide violates the doctor’sRead MoreThe Ethical Dilemmas Of Euthanasia Essay1638 Words   |  7 PagesDilemmas of Euthanasia in Canada with the Legalization of Physician-Assisted Suicide This systematic analysis of the professional literature will explore the ethical dilemmas that Canadian medical professionals face while considering euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide, the latter of which was made legal in Canada on June 17, 2016 (Chochinov and Frazee, 2016). This paper will discusses the conflicts that healthcare professionals are faced with when looking at the quality of life for the terminally