logo
logo
Sign in

Physician-Assisted Suicide

avatar
Freya Collins

Physician-assisted suicide means the provision of the necessary information and means to a patient who then performs the act of suicide. Most of the patients who seek this form of help have deadly or incurable illnesses that make them suffer and feel hopeless. In most cases, the patients who want to end their suffering by dying are the ones who request physician-assisted suicide. The debate on assisted suicide does not promise to end soon since it is a controversial issue. It is unethical and illegal to end a person’s life intentionally as a remedy for suffering and pain (Smith et al., 2011). An individual should meet his/her death when the right time comes rather than hasten it by committing physician-assisted suicide. Preferably, a physician should use other methods to help a patient, such as finding out the cause of the patient’s request for assisted suicide. A doctor can then help a patient in making informed decisions about alternative treatment, thereby not trying to hasten death.

Based on the argument that physician-assisted suicide is illegal and unethical, the activities of Dr. Kevorkian were against the law. There is no federal constitutional right to physician-assisted suicide as established by the US Supreme Court. Although Dr. Kevorkian was responding to Thomas Youk’s needs, injecting him with lethal drugs was not an appropriate path. As a provider of palliative care, he was supposed to offer the best possible care that was acceptable by both the law and the ethical standards governing his field of work. He should have chosen another alternative since he had enough working knowledge of all the aspects of palliative care. Assessing the cause of Youk’s request and making a commitment to his care would be appropriate. Moreover, he should have educated Youk on the legal alternatives in order to persuade him not to commit suicide. In addition, seeking the advice of fellow physicians would help Dr. Kevorkian in choosing the best way of assisting his patient. Physician-assisted suicide causes much pain and suffering to the families of the victims who meet untimely death. Thus, Dr. Kevorkian was a murderer.

 More interesting ideas presented here https://prime-essay.net/interview-writing-services

 

collect
0
avatar
Freya Collins
guide
Zupyak is the world’s largest content marketing community, with over 400 000 members and 3 million articles. Explore and get your content discovered.
Read more