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Problems with euthanasia and assisted suicide
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Problems With Assisted Suicide
Americans want to know what the report card says, in other words, what are the results of the Netherlands and Oregon experiments with assisted suicide. Let's sift through the data and relevant studies in order to arrive at a conclusion which either affirms or rejects the practice.
Although the New England Journal of Medicine article (2/24/00) was the first time a major medical journal in the United States had recounted problems associated with assisted suicide in the Netherlands, there had been prior warnings:
In 1995, Dr. Pieter Admiraal, who has practiced euthanasia in the Netherlands for years, warned of the risk of failure associated with assisted suicide. After explaining the preparations that must be made for an assisted suicide death, he wrote:
"In spite of these measures, every doctor who decides to assist in suicide must be aware that something can go wrong, with the result being a failure of the suicide. For this reason, one should always be prepared to proceed to active euthanasia. In other words, the doctor should always have at hand thiopental and muscle relaxant" (to administer in the form of a lethal injection). (Admiraal)
Barbiturates are the most common substances used for assisted suicide in Oregon and in the Netherlands. Overdoses of barbiturates are known to cause distress:
Extreme gasping and muscle spasms can occur. While losing consciousness, a person can vomit and then inhale the vomit. Panic, feelings of terror and assaultive behavior take place from the drug-induced confusion. Other problems can include difficulty in taking the drugs, failure of the drugs to induce unconsciousness and a number of days elapsing before death occurs. (NEJM)
Dr. Katrina Hedberg, a co-author of Oregon's two official reports on assisted suicide, denies that there have been complications in assisted suicide deaths in Oregon. "Those things have not materialized," she stated. (Oregonian)
But news reports from Oregon indicate otherwise:
* A man experienced difficulty during his assisted suicide death and his brother-in-law had to help him die. "It doesn't go smoothly for everyone," the person who helped explained. "It would not have worked without help." [Oregonian, 1/17/99 and 3/11/99]
* In another case, after a man took the drugs intended to induce death, his physical symptoms were so disturbing that his wife called 911. He was taken from his home to a hospital where he was revived.
Let's mention a known name in the euthanasia field, Dr. Jack Kevorkian. If this name sounds unfamiliar, then you have been one of the lucky few people to have been living in a cave for the last nine years. Dr. Kevorkian is considered to some as a patriarch, here to serve mankind. Yet others consider him to be an evil villain, a devil's advocate so to speak. Physician assisted suicide has not mentioned in the news recently. But just as you are reading this paper and I'm typing, it's happening. This hyperlink will take you to a web page that depicts in depth how many people Dr. Kevorkian has assisted in taking their lives.
Did you know, about 57% of physicians today have received a request for physician assisted suicide due to suffering from a terminally ill patient. Suffering has always been a part of human existence, and these requests have been occurring since medicine has been around. Moreover, there are two principles that all organized medicine agree upon. The first one is physicians have a responsibility to relieve pain and suffering of dying patients in their care. The second one is physicians must respect patients’ competent decisions to decline life-sustaining treatment. Basically, these principles state the patients over the age of 18 that are mentally stable have the right to choose to end their life if they are suffering from pain. As of right now, Oregon, Washington, and Vermont have legalized physician assisted suicide through legislation. Montana has legalized it via court ruling. The first Death with Dignity Act (DWDA) became effective in Oregon in 1997. Washington and Vermont later passed this act in 2009, and Montana passed the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act in 2008. One concern with physician assisted suicide is confusion of the patient’s wishes. To get rid of any confusion and provide evidence in case someone becomes terminally ill, people should make an advanced care plan. The two main lethal drugs that are used during physician assisted suicide are secobarbital and pentobarbital. Appropriate reporting is necessary when distributing these drugs and performing the suicide in order to publish an analysis. Studies found a large number of people accepted this procedure under certain circumstances; therefore, physician assisted suicide should be legal in the United States because terminally ill patients over the age of 18 that are...
170 years after the potato blight sent the Irish to America they are said to have assimilated to the point of over-acculturalization. Today Catholicism and St. Patricks’ day are the only things that differentiate this group from other Anglo-American groups. Not only were they able to conform to mainstream society they have been referred to as America’s favorite group (pg. 294). Although they are still characterized today as heavy drinkers and fighters, they are no longer considered sub-human and
O'Connor, Thomas H. The Boston Irish: A Political History. Boston, MA. Northeastern University Press, 1995.
In her paper entitled "Euthanasia," Phillipa Foot notes that euthanasia should be thought of as "inducing or otherwise opting for death for the sake of the one who is to die" (MI, 8). In Moral Matters, Jan Narveson argues, successfully I think, that given moral grounds for suicide, voluntary euthanasia is morally acceptable (at least, in principle). Daniel Callahan, on the other hand, in his "When Self-Determination Runs Amok," counters that the traditional pro-(active) euthanasia arguments concerning self-determination, the distinction between killing and allowing to die, and the skepticism about harmful consequences for society, are flawed. I do not think Callahan's reasoning establishes that euthanasia is indeed morally wrong and legally impossible, and I will attempt to show that.
Cotton, Paul. "Medicine's Position Is Both Pivotal And Precarious In Assisted Suicide Debate." The Journal of the American Association 1 Feb. 1995: 363-64.
The 1906 debate concerning whether or not to legalize Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) legal in Iowa and Ohio was the first significant effort to make PAS legal. Ohio quickly rejected it with a vote of 79-23 in the Ohio Legislative. Many other states were also denied but a few were very close. Today, there are many countries for it that still practice, such as Switzerland, The Netherlands, Japan, Mexico, Belgium, Columbia, Albania, and the states of Oregon, Washington, and Vermont in the United States. Those that are against it are Italy, Australia, U.S., Canada, England and Wales, Sweden, Germany, and France (Baird, 2009). Many of those ar...
Frederick talks about a man named Mr. Gore. He served colonel Lloyd as an overseer at one of the outer farms. He had proved himself worthy of the high station of overseers upon the great house farm. Frederick describes him as proud, cruel, artful, and ambitious. Mr. Gore was the most dreaded overseer by the slaves. He's presents were painful and he flashed confusion and when his voice was herd their was horror and trembling among the slaves. He committed the most grossest and most savage punishments, to the slaves. Their was a slave named Demby whom was getting punished, he was whipped a few times then ran and jumped in to the creek bed. Mr. Gore gave him three chances to get out of the creek. Demby did not budge each time he was told to get out. So gore took his gun out and shot him in the head. These incidents made the other slaves fear him more.
In the beginning, life was not easy for the numerous Irish - Catholic immigrants who fled the Great Potato Famine of 1845 and, “. . . Protestant ascendancy, British colonialism and turbulence in their own country. . . “(2) Because of their lack of funds many Irish immigrants landed in less expensive Canadian ports, and then walked down into the United States.(3) Not only was the ocean voyage difficult, but once reaching the United States, most immigrants found that they were not welcomed with open arms, but rather pushed away because of their religious affiliations. Catholics found themselves the minority and targets of discrimination.(4) Settled Americans saw the new influx of Irish immigrants as a plague, dirtying their streets and neighborhoods, filling their jails and sanitariums, creating public disruption. “Negative stereotypes imported from England characterizing the Irish as pugnacious, drunken, semi-savage, were common and endured. . . “(5) A...
Although widely condoned around the world, only one nation, the Netherlands has made physician assisted suicide legal. Five states tried Washington in 1991, California in 1992, Michigan in 1998,and main in 2000, Oregon in 1994 approved the “Death with Dignity Act” it won 51 percent to 49 percent. 91 people committed suicide with the aid of a physician in the first four years the law was in effect.
One of the most common infections that occur in the urinary system is UTIs or Urinary Tract Infection. A UTI is when bacteria gets into the urinary system, either externally or from the digestive tract, and causes pain and irritation in the urinary tract (Friedl, n.d.). UTIs are typically treated with antibiotics. A common disease of the urinary system is incontinence, which is when you lose some or all of your bladder control (Friedl, n.d.). This can also cause retention problems, which is when you have trouble releasing urine from the bladder (Friedl, n.d.). Incontinence can be treated with medication and exercise that can help to retrain the muscle around the bladder and urethra area (Friedl, n.d.). Interstitial cystitis (IC), also known as painful bladder syndrome (BPS), is a type of chronic bladder condition that is primarily found in women (Zimmermann, 2016). IC can cause bladder pressure and pain, bladder scarring, and can cause less elasticity in the bladder (Zimmermann, 2016). Another form of inflammation in the urinary system is Prostatitis, the swelling of the prostate gland. Prostatitis is significant in that it only occurs in men and is often caused by advanced age (Zimmermann, 2016). It is generally cured by antibiotics. Kidney stones are an extremely painful condition that occurs in the urinary system when chemicals in the urine become
...ntry, but also positive traditions and influences. The most famous Irish holiday celebrated in America, today, is Saint Patrick’s Day. This holiday celebrated on March 17th displays the culture and heritage of the Irish. The Irish immigration has also brought famous figures, such as the painter Georgia O'Keeffe, and novelists Edgar Allen Poe and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Henry Ford, a successful leader in the vehicle industry is a man of Irish heritage. The most celebrated Irish American sports figure is George Herman “Babe” Ruth who dominated the American baseball league and is remembered as a baseball legend. These famous events and people have helped the nation to thoroughly respect the Irish. Irish immigrants traveled to the United States with so much courage and managed to get by all of the harshness of the new world, leaving a major influence in the country.
...trong faith and the strong sense of humor helped my relatives, and all of the other Irish to prosper. The current 38,760,000 Irish Americans owe their ancestors a great deal of thanks for sustaining and perpetuating the long-standing tradition of the Irish in America.Bibliography
When doctors perform a cystoscopy – a procedure that involves inserting a thin scope inside the bladder – on certain interstitial cystitis patients they can see evidence of the disease: mucosal hemorrhaging or Hunner’s ulcers that bleed when the bladder is filled beyond capacity. People with IC have small capacity bladders that hold less than 300 ml, or approximately 1 cup.
"Assisted Suicide: Finding Common Ground." Lois Snyder, JD; and Authur L. Caplan, PhD. Annals of Internal Medicine. March 21, 2000. v.132, n.6