Moral and Ethical Implications for Passive Euthanasia
Abstract
Euthanasia is an action done by the doctors to their patient. It involves the intentional killing of patients by the doctors hence benefiting the patient. This benefit includes the reduction of the treatment cost and suffering of the patient. It is believed that during the old age, the terminal illness may cause depression to the patient hence worsening the situation. This depression might be due to loneliness and feeling of segregation among the aged people. Therefore, in the worst state of the illness, the doctor should apply euthanasia in order to save the patient from continual suffering.
Moral and Ethical Implications of Euthanasia
Euthanasia was a word that was used in the ancient Greek to imply “good death”. This was clearly analyzed to mean the act of killing patients that is commonly done by the doctors intentionally. This is because death is thought to be beneficial to the patient thus preventing further suffering. The aim of the doctor in this case is to terminate the life of the patient with a beneficial intention. This act is not accompanied by the carelessness of the doctor; hence, it results from the keen examination and testing of the patient by the doctor. Therefore, the doctor is able to establish that the situation has the ability to cause the death of the patient. In addition, the doctor is not allowed by the law to administer those drugs that enhance the death of the patient to any person who shows the death symptom in him or her. There should be detailed and informative consultation towards achieving this consensus that will dictate these kinds of drugs. In many circumstances, it is administrated to reduce the cost of treatment and other costs that are attached. Furthermore, “the doctor should not stop treating the patient even if the patient shows the signs of non-survival” (Rasmussen, 2000).
The euthanasia issue is not to be practiced by just a mear person who is without the permission of the doctors association that is in line with the laws of the country. Therefore, the law is thought to be flexible on this issue through permitting the doctors to kill through a provision in the laws. Hence, it allows such an incident in order to reduce the patient’s sufferings. The participation of law in this matter is to ensure that other people do not participate in this vital exercise. Thus, violation of this act by other individuals may lead to judgment in the court of law. This act is for the benefit of the patient because in some situations, the adverse patient condition predicts that he had better been dead. Therefore, euthanasia is a situation that is related to the doctor’s profession and thus it is distinguished him from other acts that may be done with the central aim that relates to the selfish desires of an individual.
For an 85-year-old widow who is suffering from a cancerous infection, this could be a hard life on her. The cancerous infection is a terminal illness that commonly attracts depression and stress in the life of the patient. Therefore, for this woman, her old age is disturbing and she is being faced by desperation and pain that could trigger suicidal thoughts. In this way, this kind of an illness can be successfully treated through focusing on the depression first. The use of psycho-stimulants and other pain relief medication is important in this case because the old woman is under a bad condition. This kind of depression is mainly caused by diseases that are curable through immediate concentration on the mental illness that might probably reduce the suicidal thoughts. However, for the ageing woman who has a terminal illness, once her health deteriorates, she might apply for a voluntary euthanasia. This is where the patient is aware of his or her condition and thus she is willingly supporting the doctor to use the euthanasia method. This method will help relieve her from the multiple troubles in her life. The physician-assisted method of suicide might be applicable in this situation whereby a physician assists the patient to commit suicide intentionally. This is done through either in the form of encouragement or an advice and hence the patients and not the doctor do the final act of suicide. “This is unlike to the use of euthanasia where the doctor performs the act personally” (Areskog & Swinburne Institute of Technology, 1984).
In some situations, life might not be worth living when it is encompassed by suffering caused by severe illness. Therefore, there is the patient’s deliberate choice of death. This means that a patient is affected by certain illnesses until he or she finds life to be unbearable. The patient in this way may undergo physician-assisted method or he may opt to allow the doctor to use the Euthanasia method to evade the troubles of the earth. This request may face a lot of opposition from this and therefore the most encouraged method of helping patients involves the deliberate requisition by the patient to apply the euthanasia method. This method faces a lot of criticism as the patient is forced to be admitted in the hospital. Sequentially, it allows for the doctors confirmation that the killing was according to the ethical practices. In many instances, the application of euthanasia is termed as against God’s will because it is only through the act of God that humans receive life and thus God is responsible for the death of the human. Hence, we should not assist God in his work of creation and termination. Therefore, “this act has greatly received opposition from the religious groups, which claimed that it is an act that is against Gods way and purpose for human beings” (Hinman, 2008). This is because God is powerful and he is able to heal even at the last minute when people have already despaired to the level of thinking that all is lost.
The issue of granting the voluntary euthanasia is another decision that is of major influence by the decision of the doctor. Consequently, before the performance of this activity, the doctor is thought to have done an expansive examination on the patient in order to be able to establish that euthanasia was the only available option that could be applied in the process. However, there is no doctor who can perform the euthanasia from the patient’s request or remove any body part from his body simply because he thinks that death is near. The doctor is obliged to perform his duty without fear or influence from anything or person. This helps in the fair distribution of the right information and the analysis that helps in establishing the root course that can convince enough hence leading to the performance of the euthanasia. Many people are said to be writing wills to their doctors on how they should be done when the illness exceeds, hence “the doctor is only allowed to follow the ethics of his profession and for this reason his work will be guided acceptable in profession” (Jonsen & Walters, 1998).
The sick people do not lack worth because they are still under the control of God. The notion of non-worth is perceived to originate from the western culture where some extent of illness or old age was believed to bring the issue of unworthiness. The introduction and application of medical laws in the western countries had the tendency of rating the probability of the survival rate of the patients. However, this law was rejected and thus termed uncivilized laws that limited the existence of the human. The ability of some patients to ask for the lethal injection promoted the benefits of death and thus it was assumed that if some patients see importance, what about those who are seriously sick to the level of not expressing their desire or wish. Thus, it was laid a claim that those patients who are seriously ill to the level of using the machine to support their breathing system should undergo the euthanasia. Their death will be beneficial to them and to the members of their family. This is because, “to the patient, there shall be reduction of sufferings and to their family, the cost of treatment shall be reduced” (Post & Dubler, 2007).
Therefore, in a situation that encompasses both old age and illness, it is important for the affected to consider euthanasia unless the patient is still confident about his survival status. In addition, where the affected has children, then he or she should opt to receive the therapy in order to reduce the burden on the children. For instance, cancer is a terminal illness and thus when combined with old age, it becomes a burden because that individual will require a special care and attention to be vested on him or her. Consequently, failure to offer that care would lead to violation of human rights hence this action is not godly because the affected is suffering. In addition, people having this kind of condition are affected by depression, which translates also to suicidal thinking. Thus, this situation is only solved through the application of euthanasia, which is the intentional death that is accomplished by the doctor to benefit the patient.
References
Areskog, A., & Swinburne Institute of Technology. (1984). Euthanesia and Personal Autonomy in the Dying Process: An Attitude Survey. Hawthorn, Vic.: Swinburne Institute of Technology.
Hinman, L. (2008). Contemporary Moral Issues: Diversity and Consensus. Upper Saddle Rvr, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Jonsen, A. R., Veatch, R. M., & Walters, L. R. (1998). Source book in bioethics. Washington, D.C: Georgetown University Press.
Post, L. F., Blustein, J., & Dubler, N. N. (2007). Handbook for health care ethics committees. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Rasmussen, P. A. (January 01, 2000). Physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. The New England Journal of Medicine, 343, 2, 151-3.
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