Saturday, December 28, 2019

Physician Assisted Suicide And The Hippocratic Oath

Physician assisted suicide or PAS is a topic that has long been debated throughout history dating back as far as the ancient Greeks and Romans. During that time, physician assisted suicide was an accepted and tolerated practice by giving patients poison to help them die rather than have them suffer a long and painful death. Even though it went against the Hippocratic Oath which in part states â€Å"I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect† (Medicinenet.com, 2015), very few ancient Roman and Greek physicians followed the Hippocratic Oath faithfully. (ProCon.org, 2013). It wasn’t until the beginning of the 12th century and the rise of Christianity that physician assisted suicide viewpoints changed because of the religious belief that life is a gift from God and that no one had the right to take a life. Consequently, the Hippocratic Oath was taken seriously and faithfully followed by physician thus sparking the debate for legal assisted suicide for centuries to come. There are various terms used for this topic area so to clear up any misunderstanding of the meanings, I will give the definitions of those terms. First, the term Euthanasia is Greek for â€Å"good death† and â€Å"is the act or practice of ending the life of a person either by lethal injection or the suspension of medical treatment.† (Legal-Dictionary) Under the big umbrella term of euthanasia there are the following terms: 1) â€Å"Voluntary Euthanasia is theShow MoreRelatedThe Legal And Ethical Issues Involving Physician Assisted Suicide1134 Words   |  5 Pageswhat conditions is physician assisted suicide morally acceptable, is the question at hand and did these states make the right decision on such a slippery slope debate. This paper will go on to explain one side of this very touchy debate, it will also consider objections from the other side, and ultimately defend the position physician assisted suicide is wrong not only morally but also, ethically. My argument for this thesis is provided below: P1: Physician assisted suicide violates the doctor’sRead MoreEssay about Arguments against Physician-assisted suicide1173 Words   |  5 Pagesthis is true in terms of physician-assisted suicide. The ongoing struggle between those in favor and those opposed to this subject has ravaged the medical field, bringing into question what is morally and ethically right. The fact of the matter is that physician-assisted suicide is neither morally nor ethically acceptable under any circumstance. Not only is it a direct violation of a doctor’s Hippocratic Oath, but it is not constitutionally binding. Physician-assisted suicide would also lead to unnecessaryRead MoreEuthanasia And Assisted Suicide : A Patient s Choice1742 Words   |  7 Pages Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: A patient s choice in their type of death. When a patient is terminally ill or is experiencing extreme pain, often Euthanasia or Assisted Suicide can both be plausible options to end any suffering. Euthanasia is currently legalized in seven countries and parts of the United States (New Health Guide). This number is not likely to increase soon because of the high controversy, which is due to the very serious topic of this matter: a person s life. The generalRead MoreThe Ethics of Euthanasia Essay1742 Words   |  7 Pagesmisery, however in the state of North Carolina, physician-assisted suicide is illegal. Luckily, her father passed away this year and is finally free of pain and suffering. However, if physician-assisted suicide was legal, her father would not have had to suffer as long as he did. Before we explore the sides of physician-assisted suicide, let’s go over exactly what physician-assisted suicide entails. When the topic of physician-assisted suicide comes up, many individuals believe it is the sameRead MoreEuthanasia And Physician Assisted Suicide983 Words   |  4 PagesEuthanasia or Physician-assisted suicide and how they should or should not be legal. In some cases people feel as if the patient who are suffering from a terminal painful disease should have the right to commit suicide in other cases people feel as if the patient is being selfish to end their life when you have loved ones that are going to suffer because they killed themselves. People feel it should or should not be legal because of right to die, living wills, and Hippocratic Oath. Right to dieRead MoreAssisted Suicide : An Unknown Lung Disease Essay1148 Words   |  5 PagesJonathan Rubio Mr. Williams ERWC 19 October 2016 Assisted Suicide Sixty-Eight year old Robert Rubio from Fresno California was diagnosed with an unknown lung disease that was not curable. The doctors told him that the only way to live was to get a lung transplant. To get a lung, it can take several years and Robert said he would wait so he could live longer to be with his family. After months of waiting in a hospital 169 miles away from his family, he decided that he didn’t want to wait forRead MorePhysician-Assisted Suicide Essay1038 Words   |  5 Pagesof their patients, or to assist them in ending their lives? Many people may believe that physicians would never perform the latter, but in actuality one practice does so. Physician assisted suicide is the intentional ending of one’s life brought on by lethal substances prescribed by a doctor. In the majority of cases, the patient is terminally ill and simply does not desire to live any longer. Their physician provides the medication necessary to end their life. Many supporters aver that this practiceRead MoreEuthanasia 1044 Words   |  5 Pagessides of this bioethical topic. Before either side of the argument is discussed the biological process of euthanasia must be examined as well as the background of the practice. In most cases euthanasia is performed intravenously. The attending physician administers a drug into the patient causing the patient to go comatose. When the patient is comatose, they are in a state of unconsciousness preventing responses to painful stimuli, light, or sound. Once the patient is in the coma state, a secondRead MorePhysician Assisted Suicide Should Be Legal1494 Words   |  6 PagesPhysician Assisted Suicide A tough issue on the rise in the United States is whether or not Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) should be legal. Physician Assisted Suicide allows a physician to prescribe a lethal dose of medication to a patient to end their life. However, the patient has to take the drugs on their own. PAS would be only offered to those suffering from a terminal illness with less than six months to live. The way these patients go about treating and or living with a terminal illnessRead MoreLegalizing Physician Assisted Suicide1140 Words   |  5 Pagescurrent 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

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