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A disabled man shares his personal experience with euthanasia: As a quadriplegic who has been paralyzed from the chest down for over 24 years, I want to address the dangerous potential ramifications of legalizing physician assisted suicide (PAS) from a viewpoint of personal experience. The past danger I am referring to concerns the time when I was first paralyzed. My paralysis is the result of a broken neck and spinal cord injury from a car accident in 1975. Add to this cheery scenario the fact that I was soon greeted by a doctor who told me I was not supposed to have lived as long as I had, would most likely die shortly, or, in the best case would spend the remainder of my life confined to a wheelchair and you know I was not in the best of moods. After I surprised the doctors and lived to get into rehab, they told me, at that time, the average lifespan of a male quadriplegic was 36 years. By then, I would probably die from a pressure sore, kidney failure, or other related complication. That meant my best hope was 15 more years paralyzed. I'm 45 now and can look back on that laughingly. It wasn't so funny then. I spent 6 weeks getting medically stable followed by 4 and a half months in rehabilitation. During that period, there were MANY times when I didn't know if I wanted to go on. What have I done since the accident? I have lived semi-independently for nearly 23 years. In 1985, I graduated the University of Southern Maine with a B.A. in Communication. In 1989, I graduated Regent University in Virginia Beach with an M.A. in Creative Writing/Journalism. While there, I also worked with a large non-profit organization, received an outstanding service award for working 5 years in an inner city project, wrote and sold 2 radio... ... middle of paper ... ...a's Family Doctor. Random House:1991. http://www.euthanasia.com/koop.html. (27 Sept 2003). Lewis, Trixie. "Dying with Dignity." Positive Living. 2003: p.1-2. Online. Internet. http://www.alpha.org/apla/positiveliving/1199/letters.html. (28 Sept 2003). Lykes, Fred. "A Defense of Physican Assisted Suicide(PAS)." p. 1-10. http://www.bluesky7.com/. (27 Sept 2003). Saunders, Peter. "Twelve Reasons Why Euthanasia Should Not Be Legalized." Christian Medical Fellowship. 1997: p. 1-6. http://www.cmf.org.uk/ethics/twelve.htm. (28 Sept 2003). Singer, Peter. "Freedom and the Right to Die." Online Opinion. 2002: p.1-3. Online. Internet. http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/2002/May02/Singer.htm. (28 Sept 2003). Smith, Wesley. "We Ignore the Dutch Legalization of Euthanasia at Our Own Peril." 17 Dec 2000: p. 1-3. http://www.euthanasua.com/nethcases.html. (27 Sept 2003).
Dworkin, Gerald. " The Nature of Medicine." Euthanasia and Physician Assisted Suicide: For and Against. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1998.
In the modern world humans have been able to design and create nearly anything, most to aid us in our daily lives and improve our standard of living. It is only inevitable that eventually humans would take our superior knowledge and skill to manipulate life itself and change our genome to produce a healthier and even more superior human standard of life. In recent years discussion about gene therapy has changed into a promising possibility to treat many of our common human diseases and disorders. Although gene therapy might be the answer to many problems, it has been met with a number of logistical and ethical hardships. With the prospect of being a treatment for inherited genetic disorders, cancers, and viral infections, gene therapy seems like the logical fix-it-all bandage that many people would benefit from.
Gene therapy is a technique which has developed in the wake of recombinant DNA (rDNA) technology. It is a process which results in the correction of a genetic disorder by the addition of a piece or fragment of DNA into the genetic material of a living, functioning cell. A mere thirty years ago this concept belonged to the realm of the human imagination made manifest in the works of science fiction. Today it belongs to the realm of the human imagination made manifest in the works of science, period. It is mind boggling to try to comprehend the far reaching effects of gene therapy. How is it affecting society? Who will benefit from its use? Should it be used at all? Should research continue? How do we answer all of these questions? The answers are not readily available, nor are they black and white, but an attempt at finding some solutions must be made. Before exploring this line of thought further, a basic understanding of the technical aspects of gene therapy is essential.
In September 14, 1990, an operation, which is called gene therapy, was performed successfully at the National Institutes of Health in the United States. The operation was only a temporary success because many problems have emerged since then. Gene therapy is a remedy that introduces genes to target cells and replaces defective genes in order to cure the diseases which cannot be cured by traditional medicines. Although gene therapy gives someone who is born with a genetic disease or who suffers cancer a permanent chance of being cured, it is high-risk and sometimes unethical because the failure rate is extremely high and issues like how “good” and “bad” uses of gene therapy can be distinguished still haven’t been answered satisfactorily.
Dieterel, J.M. "Physician Assisted Suicide: A New Look At The Arguments." Bioethics 21.3 (2007): 127-139. Academic Search Complete. Web. 11 Mar. 2014. http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.uta.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=4fd20a10-6e81-4245-8e38-b60febd4c8a6%40sessionmgr113&vid=6&hid=107
Lee, Thomas F. “Gene Therapy is Beneficial.” Genetic Engineering: Opposing Viewpoints. Ed. Carol Wekesser. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1996. 166-173.
Opposing Viewpoints."Introduction to Euthanasia: Opposing Viewpoints." Euthanasia. Ed. Carrie Snyder. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2000. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale Opposing Viewpoints In Context. Web. 18 Nov. 2011. http://ic.galegroup.com.library.collin.edu/ic/ovic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=false&prodId=OVIC&action=2&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ3010134107&userGroupName=txshracd2497&jsid=af2eacb374dfea6a89c0773d16c35a50
Lopez, Gerald Gabriel. "Gene Therapy: the Scientific vs. the Societal" The Resource. Jan. 1998. 10 Apr. 2001. .
Gavaghan, Helen. Nature Vol. 374: "Gene therapy approval may be rocky road for industry." 16 March 1995; 202.
Rubanyi, G. (2001). The Future of Human Gene Therapy. Molecular Aspects of Medicine. 22,3, pp. 113-142.
Gene therapy is a relatively simple process. First, the mutated gene at fault for the cause of the condition being treated must be identified. Second, the site of the unhealthy cells in the human has to be found. Then, a health...
There are hundreds of thousands bee keepers in the United States alone. Without honeybees, the beekeepers will eventually lose their jobs because there will no longer be honey for them to sell. Also, no more pollination of different crops mean hundreds of businesses will have to be shut down due to no produce to sell. Over twenty-four million dollars comes from bee pollinators and straight into the United States economy but “…honey bees account for more than fifteen billion dollars through their vital role in keeping fruits, nuts, and vegetables in our diets” (Fact Sheet: The Economic Challenge Posed by Declining Pollinator Populations par 3). Food and money are the two things in this world that truly help us survive. Without both, humans will no longer be able to sustain
Gene therapy is the insertion of normal or genetically altered genes into cells usually to replace defective or diseased genes in the body. By using gene therapy, doctors can go to the source of the disorder or problem instead of prescribing a patient a countless number of drugs (Hogarth 1). Gene therapy was designed to introduce new and corrected genes to compensate for any abnormal genes. If a mutated gene causes a protein to be missing or to fail, gene therapy is a way to inject a new and normal copy of the correct gene to revitalize the function of the lost protein (Genetics Home Reference 1). With the help of medical advances in technology, gene therapy has gone from the idea stage, to technology development and laboratory research, to clinical trials for various disorders (ASGCT 2). It was not until the last five years that advances and trials of this new innovation had occurred (2). Gene therapy is currently being tested for results in cancer and other acquired diseases such as HIV or the flu. However, ...
Since its inception, gene therapy has captured the attention of the public and ethics disciplines as a therapeutic application of human genetic engineering. The latter, in particular, has lead to concerns about germline modification and questions about the distinction between therapy and enhancement. The development of the gene therapy field and its progress to the clinic has not been without controversy. Although initially considered as a promising approach for treating the genetic of disease, the field has attracted disappointment for failing to fulfil its potential. With the resolution of many of the barriers that restricted the progress of gene therapy and increasing reports of clinical success, it is now generally recognised that earlier expectations may have been premature.
Gene therapies necessity, stems from the fact that it can cure, life threatening gene based diseases, with minimal after effects. Although there are some ethical and physical issues that can occur through this technology, when comparing it to the other genetic technologies, it’s quite reliable. Although it is in its infancy, the technology has still been present for several years, with the first case of gene therapy being done in 1990. Sure, there have been some complications, but its still a growing technology with a strong future in front of