The Right to Dignity when Suffering from a Terminal Illness
The practice of physician-assisted suicide involves terminally ill patients requesting from their doctors a prescription for medication they can take to painlessly end their suffering.
The practice of physician-assisted suicide involves terminally ill patients requesting from their doctors a prescription for medication they can take to painlessly end their own lives. In the United States, physician-assisted suicide is currently legal in only three states: Oregon, Montana, and Washington (Friend, 2011). Oregon was the first state to legalize the practice in 1994, and since that time none of the consequences feared by opponents have been realized. Relatively few patients, all of them in the late stages of a terminal illness and suffering tremendously, have been enabled to forgo their last few months of suffering under these laws. The time has come for other states to adopt laws permitting and regulating physician-assisted suicide.
The primary concern expressed about physician-assisted suicide is that it may lead to involuntary deaths (Gill & Voss, 2005). Oregon?s Death with Dignity Act, however, includes adequate safeguards to prevent this. The law allows physicians to write a prescription to terminally ill patients for medication that they can use to end their own lives painlessly. The patient must have six months or less to live, and another physician must confirm the diagnosis. Patients must initiate the request themselves with two witnesses present, at least one being a person with no family or financial connection to either the patient or the doctor. If either physician is concerned about the patient being capable of deciding rationally and voluntarily, a psychological evaluation is mandatory (Hillyard & Dombrink, 2001, 69-82).
Within two years after Oregon?s law went into effect, about two-thirds of psychiatrists in the state supported the view that in some circumstances a physician should be permitted to prescribe medicine intended to allow a patient to end his or her life (Ganzini, Fenn, Lee, Heintz, & Bloom, 1996). The main end-of-life concerns cited by individuals who chose to end their lives with doctor-prescribed medication were the inability to participate in activities that make life enjoyable, loss of autonomy, and loss of dignity (Oregon Public Health Division, 2012).
Some terminal illnesses leave patients basically bedridden, in pain too intense for medicine to alleviate, and with no hope of recovery. Studies have consistently shown that some doctors will assist patients in these states with suicide regardless of legality. Legalizing physician-assisted suicide makes it possible to regulate the practice to prevent abuses, which are more likely to occur when the practice is kept secret (Snyder & Caplan, 2002). Expanding legalization of physician-assisted suicide will only alleviate suffering and ensure that no patient is pressured into taking his or her life.
References
Friend, M. (2011). Physician-Assisted Suicide: Death with Dignity? Journal of Nursing Law, 14(3), 110-116).
Ganzini, L., Fenn, D., Lee, M., Heintz, R., & Bloom, J. (1996). Attitudes of Oregon Psychiatrists Toward Phys
The primary concern expressed about physician-assisted suicide is that it may lead to involuntary deaths (Gill & Voss, 2005). Oregon?s Death with Dignity Act, however, includes adequate safeguards to prevent this. The law allows physicians to write a prescription to terminally ill patients for medication that they can use to end their own lives painlessly. The patient must have six months or less to live, and another physician must confirm the diagnosis. Patients must initiate the request themselves with two witnesses present, at least one being a person with no family or financial connection to either the patient or the doctor. If either physician is concerned about the patient being capable of deciding rationally and voluntarily, a psychological evaluation is mandatory (Hillyard & Dombrink, 2001, 69-82).
Within two years after Oregon?s law went into effect, about two-thirds of psychiatrists in the state supported the view that in some circumstances a physician should be permitted to prescribe medicine intended to allow a patient to end his or her life (Ganzini, Fenn, Lee, Heintz, & Bloom, 1996). The main end-of-life concerns cited by individuals who chose to end their lives with doctor-prescribed medication were the inability to participate in activities that make life enjoyable, loss of autonomy, and loss of dignity (Oregon Public Health Division, 2012).
Some terminal illnesses leave patients basically bedridden, in pain too intense for medicine to alleviate, and with no hope of recovery. Studies have consistently shown that some doctors will assist patients in these states with suicide regardless of legality. Legalizing physician-assisted suicide makes it possible to regulate the practice to prevent abuses, which are more likely to occur when the practice is kept secret (Snyder & Caplan, 2002). Expanding legalization of physician-assisted suicide will only alleviate suffering and ensure that no patient is pressured into taking his or her life.
References
Friend, M. (2011). Physician-Assisted Suicide: Death with Dignity? Journal of Nursing Law, 14(3), 110-116).
Ganzini, L., Fenn, D., Lee, M., Heintz, R., & Bloom, J. (1996). Attitudes of Oregon Psychiatrists Toward Phys
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