Fahmeda Akther

ENG 21003, Sec. A

Professor Sidibe

September 24, 2018

Physician – Assisted Suicide

When suffering from terminally ill diseases, many patients wish to die with dignity. These patients are often forced to take on the pain, nausea and psychological conditions because they know there is no cure for the illness. Even though physician-assisted suicide, PAS, is legal in seven states, there is still an ongoing debate on whether or not the rest of the United States should legalize it and if it is ethical. While some believe legalizing physician-assisted suicide is a right that should be given to all patients, it is actually changing the role of medical professions.

According to the American Medical Association, physician-assisted suicide, or PAS, is when a medical professional aids a patient to end their life, by either providing them with the necessary means or necessary information to do so. In physician-assisted suicide, doctors provide patients with the medication to end their lives. Oregon is the first state to start the process of legalizing PAS. As reported by the Oregon Health Authority, “On October 27, 1997, Oregon enacted the Death with Dignity Act which allows terminally-ill Oregonians to end their lives through the voluntary self-administration of lethal medications, expressly prescribed by a physician for that purpose” (Oregon Health Authority). This act requires the Oregon Health Authority to collect information on the patients in order to create an annual report. After Oregon, six other states have passed Death with Dignity laws, including California, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Vermont, Washington and Hawaii. Montano does not have a Death with Dignity statute, but it is legal for a patient to choose to end their life with a Supreme Court ruling.

Physician-assisted suicide is changing the role of physicians in the healthcare system. The Hippocratic Oath is a binding document in which doctors swear to treat patients to the best of their ability, and to keep them from harm and injustice. However, by legalizing PAS, it allows the tools for healing a patient, to be used as a method to kill. According to the American Medical Association, “Physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer, would be difficult or impossible to control, and would pose serious societal risks” (AMA). This defies the Hippocratic Oath because at this point, physicians would be injuring the patient rather than attempting to cure and relieve them from suffering. In addition, this changes the role of the medical profession because it is not the standard way of caring for patients. Medical students did not receive specific training on PAS during medical school. Physicians were taught how to respond to patients during the end of their life. When the cure is impossible, physicians are told to give patients complete support and provide comfort care and pain control. There are other options to handle the end-of-life stage, rather than violating the Hippocratic Oath.

Supporters of physician-assisted suicide believe that having the right to choose how their life ends does not violate the Hippocratic Oath. Patients with terminal illnesses believe that having control over their death gives them comfort. Brittany Maynard was a Californian citizen who was diagnosed with brain cancer. She and her family moved to Oregon to take advantage of the state’s Death with Dignity Law and to die at a point when she couldn’t take the pain anymore. According to an article written by Francis Cheng, he discusses that the Hippocratic Oath has been modified several times because the tenets are less applicable in today’s generation. Even though the oath has been altered, it still holds the same beliefs. The oath still requires physicians to do their best to treat a patient, no matter how bad the conditions are. By bringing death upon a patient sooner than it would have occured, physicians harm the patient, which is seen as a violation to the Hippocratic Oath.

Physician-assisted suicide exploits the doctor-patient trust. By allowing a doctor to end a patient’s life, the doctor no longer is seen as a professional who is suppose to heal. Not only are doctors looked at for treatment, but patients also look at doctors for guidance. When a doctor agrees with a patient to end their life, the patient’s outlook change. By agreeing to PAS, the doctor shows the patient that there is no more options and death is the only way to go. Physician-assisted suicide should not be an option for patients at an end-of-life stage. Doctors should provide support and comfort to patients who suffer from severe illnesses, instead of showing them a quick exit.

Everyone has a different view on what a natural law is. While some believe that physician-assisted suicide is a natural right for patients, it is actually morally wrong. It changes the medical profession in that doctors are not seen as healers anymore. Medical professionals are obligated diagnose and treat patients. Physician and ethicist said, “We must care for the dying, not make them dead”.

 

Work Cited

 

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Suicide Statistics. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 2016. afsp.org/about-suicide/suicide-statistics/. Accessed 11 Sept. 2018.

Calfas, Jennifer. “Overturning of California Right-to-Die Law Draws Brittany Maynard’s Back into Fight He Thought He Won”. 16 May 2018. http://time.com/5279962/brittany-maynard-husband-california-right-to-die-law-overturned/ . Accessed 22 Sept. 2018.

How to Access and Use Death with Dignity Laws. Death with Dignity. www.deathwithdignity.org/learn/access/. Accessed 14 Sept. 2018.

Niekerk, Anton. “We have a right to die with dignity. The medical profession has a duty to Assist”. 25 Oct. 2016. https://theconversation.com/we-have-a-right-to-die-with-dignity-the-medical-profession-has-a-duty-to-assist-67574 . Accessed 1 Oct 2018.

Oregon Health Authority. Death with Dignity Act. Oregon Health Authority. www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/PROVIDERPARTNERRESOURCES/EVALUATIONRESEARCH/DEATHWITHDIGNITYACT/Pages/index.aspx. Accessed 15 Sept. 2018.

Physician-Assisted Suicide. American Medical Association. https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/physician-assisted-suicide. Accessed 14 Sept. 2018.