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Legal aspect of physician assisted suicide
Legal aspect of physician assisted suicide
Public health ethics issues
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Khalil, 1 Marja, Khalil 214246813 SOCS 1801 Auto-ethnography scrapbook on a health or biomedical controversy When someone tells you they have experienced something "life changing" what lingers through your mind? Mine is November 10, 2010 12:04pm; This was the first 24 hour period when my mother’s ability to act single-handedly on her health became theoretical; Failing to recall whether she took her pills in the morning was no longer acceptable. My mother had undergone a surgery due to various cancerous cells that grew in both her thyroids. Having removed the right and left side, doctors informed her after this procedure she must consume two white pills everyday, for the rest of her life. The purpose of these pills …show more content…
Bernie Sanders Vermont Senator wrote in resentment: “Americans should not have to live in fear that they will die or go bankrupt because they cannot afford to take the life-saving medication they need.” CBS notes Hillary Clintons campaign on the gauging of life saving medications as she states: "Drug companies should not be allowed to reap excessive profits or spend unreasonable amounts on marketing if they want to receive support that is designed to encourage life- saving and health-improving treatments.” American"s are outraged, ideally majority of people who do …show more content…
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice."/ Act of Independence 1776: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."] Both the Canadian and United States of America"s constitution illustrate the concept of "life." Under what extent are greater authorities willing to preserve this word we call life? 1999 Sue Rodriguez, 42-year-old woman who was suffering from a terminal illness called: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis wanted to have a qualified physician assist her in terminating her own life. During the trail "The majority noted that the state has a fundamental interest in protecting human life" "In spite of these changes, there is a reluctance to condone active assistance in bringing about the death of another person, even where that person is terminally ill. This is reticence, the majority suggested, stems from the belief that it is morally and legally wrong to assist another to commit suicide." The British Columbian Court dismissed Sue Rodriguez" application, courts decision 4-5. Barack Obama speaks on behalf of his country by stating in the "Federal Strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness":“When I took office in January 2009, too many of
"In the past two decades or so, health care has been commercialized as never before, and professionalism in medicine seems to be giving way to entrepreneurialism," commented Arnold S. Relman, professor of medicine and social medicine at Harvard Medical School (Wekesser 66). This statement may have a great deal of bearing on reality. The tangled knot of insurers, physicians, drug companies, and hospitals that we call our health system is not as unselfish and focused on the patients' needs as people would like to think. Pharmaceutical companies are particularly ruthless, many of them spending millions of dollars per year to convince doctors to prescribe their drugs and to convince consumers that their specific brand of drug is needed in order to cure their ailments. For instance, they may present symptoms that are perfectly harmless, and lead potential citizens to believe that, because of these symptoms, they are "sick" and in need of medication.
Four doctors, three terminally ill patients, and a nonprofit organization called Compassion in Dying, came together to file a suit arguing that prohibiting PAS is against a person’s right to liberty (Illingworth & Parmet, 2006). This became known as the Washington et al. v. Glucksberg et al. case. This case went to the Supreme Court in January of 1997 and by that following June was ruled constitutional to uphold PAS as illegal (Washington et al. v. Glucksberg et al., 1997). The penalty for any assistance in a ...
"Sarah, we need your help in the Ukraine this summer. Can I count on you?" This question changed my life profoundly. I was asked to be a counselor on JOLT, Jewish Oversees Leadership Program, an opportunity to interact with young campers in an impoverished country and positively influence their lives. Little did I realize that this experience would impact mine so greatly.
Terminally ill patients no longer wish to have their lives artificially prolonged by expensive, painful, or debilitating treatments and would rather die quietly. The patients do not wish to prolong their life and they may not wish to commit suicide themselves or worse, are physically incapable of doing so. People have the right to their own destiny and living in the U.S we have acquired freedom. The patients Right to Self Determination Act gives the patient the power to decide how, when and why they choose to die. In "Editorial Exchange: Death with Dignity: Reopen Assisted-Suicide Debate." The Canadian Press Sep 27 2013 ProQuest. 7 June 2015” Doctor Donald Low and his terminally ill friends plea to physician assisted suicide in an online video. He states that it is their rights as cancer patients to make the decision to pass, but he is denied. Where is the equality? Patients who are on dialysis or hooked up to respirators have the choice to end their lives by ending treatment. However, patients who are not dependent on life support cannot choose when they can pass. Many patients feel that because of their illness that life is not worth living for and that life has already been taken from them due to lack of activities they can perform. Most of the terminally ill patients are bedridden with outrageous amounts of medication and they don’t want family members having to care for them
Ms Rodriguez, a 42-year-old woman suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, wished to have a physician assist her in ending her life before her ALS completely incapacitated her. Section 241(b) of the Criminal Code, however, makes assisted suicide a criminal offence which lead Sue Rodriguez to apply to the Supreme Court of British Columbia for an order saying that s. 241(b) was invalid under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Unfortunately, the B.C. court dismissed her application. Ms. Rodriguez then appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, where her defence was arguing that s. 241(b) violates sections 7, 12, and 15 of the Charter (Rodriguez Case)
In America, it has become a battle to earn a high paying job to cope with the expenses of a typical American. It has become even more of a battle for some people to afford medical prescriptions to keep healthy. Health becomes a crucial issue when discussed among people. No matter what, at one point or another, everyone is going to stand as a victim of the pharmaceutical industry. The bottom line is Americans are paying excessive amounts of money for medical prescriptions. Health-Care spending in the U.S. rose a stunning 9.3% in 2002, which is the greatest increase for the past eleven years. (Steele 46) Many pharmaceutical companies are robbing their clients by charging extreme rates for their products.
For example, Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old terminal cancer patient, stated while talking to a reporter about deciding to use euthanasia to end her life peacefully, “I will die upstairs in my bedroom that I share with my husband, with my mom and my husband by my side, and pass peacefully with some music I like playing in the background” (Dobuzinskis). Maynard wished only to be with the ones she loved most on her final day when she was finally going to be liberated from her misery. Without euthanasia, she would have had to continue to undergo many horrific days of excruciating pain, until her body could no longer take the pain, inevitably shutting down. Another example is from the American Civil Liberties Union, who articulates, “The right of a competent, terminally ill person to avoid excruciating pain and embrace a timely and dignified death bears the sanction of history and is implicit in the concept of ordered liberty” (ACLU). This further proves the point that all humans should have the undisputed right to chose their own death when capable to make the decision, which is given to them by simple human rights. Individuals should not be forced to sustain incredible pain without being allowed to end their ongoing agony; it is entirely
In current society, legalizing physician assisted suicide is a prevalent argument. In 1997, the Supreme Court recognized no federal constitutional right to physician assisted suicide (Harned 1) , which defines suicide as one receiving help from a physician by means of a lethal dosage (Pearson 1), leaving it up to state legislatures to legalize such practice if desired. Only Oregon and Washington have since legalized physician assisted suicide. People seeking assisted suicide often experience slanted judgments and are generally not mentally healthy. Legalization of this practice would enable people to fall victim to coercion by friends and family to commit suicide. Also, asking for death is unfair to a doctor’s personal dogma. Some argue that society should honor the freedom of one’s choice to take his own life with the assistance of a physician; however, given the reasoning provided, it is in society’s best interest that physician assisted suicide remain illegal. Physician assisted suicide should not be legalized because suicidal people experience distorted judgments resulting in not being mentally equipped to make such a decision, people who feel they are a burden to their family may choose death as a result, and physicians should not have to go against their personal doctrines and promises.
Do people have the right to die? Is there, in fact, a right to die? Assisted suicide is a controversial topic in the public eye today. Individuals choose their side of the controversy based on a number of variables ranging from their religious views and moral standings to political factors. Several aspects of this issue have been examined in books, TV shows, movies, magazine articles, and other means of bringing the subject to the attention of the public. However, perhaps the best way to look at this issue in the hopes of understanding the motives behind those involved is from the perspective of those concerned: the terminally ill and the disabled.
The legalization of assisted suicide has been a controversial topic that has created a divide within the medical community, as well as the general public, for many years. Assisted suicide occurs when a patient decides to take their own life, with help from their doctor. The doctor can end the patient’s life without causing any additional pain or suffering. While some believe that assisted suicide should be legal for patients who are suffering from a terminal and painful condition, others argue that it is unethical and going against the doctor’s oath to help and not harm their patients. As the average life expectancy age increases, people are living longer while also having to live with more serious illnesses. As a result, lives are ending with a great amount of suffering and pain, rather then dying peacefully. Since death is ultimately inevitable, I will therefore argue in favor of the proposition that assisted suicide should be legal for those capable of making a rationale end of life decision.
One of the main reasons assisted suicide should not be considered for legalization is the fact that it reduces the value of a human life. If this act becomes legal, many people who are sick are going to begin believing that because they are ill, their life is not worth living anymore. This alone i...
Biopolitics plays a huge role in the medication of the mass population. Joseph Dumit writes Drugs for Life to show how the consumption of medicine and the cost of healthcare came to be and how it is taken for granted. Dumit gathered his information by attended pharmaceutical industry conferences and speaking with the marketers, researchers, doctors, patients and looking at the strategies used to expand markets for prescription drugs. What he discovered from his study was that the continuous growth in medications, disease categories, costs, and insecurity is a new perception of people and they feel as if they are ill and in need of chronic treatment. This perception is based on clinical trials that have been largely outsourced to pharmaceutical
The day that changed my life. It was 7am that morning I woke up and got my black dress on with white lace at the top. I waited for my dad and brother to get ready as I waited I sat and thought to myself “how am I going to get through this today?” I never did find an answer to that question and I probably never will. I walked into the funeral home that morning, and with my family we entered the room this was the very last time I will ever get to see my grandma. She laid there as I stood there looking at her, granddaughter to grandma. She looked completely like herself mostly other than the makeup which wasn’t her at all. My grandma was apostolic which if you knew my grandma you would know she never wore make up. Not in her entire life all 94 years of it. But it was kind of relieving to see her look so peaceful she looked like herself in her handmade rose colored blouse and
Smith, M. (2002, October 24). THE RODRIGUEZ CASE: A REVIEW OF THE SUPREME COURT OF CANADA DECISION ON ASSISTED SUICIDE.Government of Canada . Retrieved December 26, 2010, from dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection-R/LoPBdP/BP/bp349-e.htm#B. Section 12(txt)
Should individuals have legal power to decide how and when to end one’s life, if the desire arises? Physical and mental decline may provoke an individual to determine the need to end one’s own life. The “right to die” promotes the individual’s ability to choose in this situation. Many people believe this should be available for those who would decide to make this personal choice. However, those opposed to suicide do not have the same opinion.