The Death Treatment Analysis

People are entitled to their own opinions, sometimes they think that something is beneficial for a person; however, according to other people it might not be. In “The Death Treatment”, some of Godelieva’s doctors thought that they are helping her to end her agony, and decided to assist her suicide. They believed that there was nothing else they could do to treat her and decided to assist her suicide. In my opinion, the doctors didn’t do everything in their power to help Godelieva; instead, they influenced her decision to do euthanasia by putting their views on her and this is the reason I believe that she should not have been euthanized. There were more treatments available to treat her depression rather than doing euthanasia.

Doctors like

He describes how the doctors can change the patient’s views and how they can shape them according to what they believe is right and that is what happened in Godelieva’s case. In “The Death Treatment”, Aviv writes about a doctor named Distelmans, who was the proponent for making euthanasia legal for people who have incurable diseases. She also mentions that Distelmans has euthanized hundreds of people and he gives talks at schools and hospitals and other events. Distelmans is influencing people to do euthanasia, even though there are other solutions and treatments available for these people to resolve their problems. Godelieva visited Distelmans and a few months later, she decided to file for euthanasia. Before meeting him, Godelieva was depressed; however, she didn’t have thoughts about ending her life as Aviv mentions that in her diary Godelieva wrote that, “She couldn’t comprehend why her husband would kill

When doctors treat their patients they give their patients full autonomy about all the treatment options available and also the side effects related to the treatment, so that the patient can make a decision which would be most beneficial for them. In “The Death Treatment”, Aviv interviews Thienpont and writes that “Before approving for euthanasia, she doesn’t require patients to try procedures that they think are invasive” (62). Instead of informing and giving her patients all the treatment they need, Thienpont lets her patients proceed with euthanasia. A therapy called electroconvulsive therapy, which Godelieva never received, is effective for half of the patients with depression. One of the questions this raises is that why was she not given this treatment that had a fifty percent chance to cure her before getting euthanized? And also, did she even know that this treatment was available? And if she would have known about it then, how this would have shaped her decision to file for euthanasia. Aviv also writes that in her defense Thienpont says that “Sometimes its really too late. If the patient’s energy is gone, then it is not humane to say, ‘Well, maybe if you go to a hospital that specializes in your problem for two or more years, it will help.’ I