Physician Assisted Suicide

Since diamond is such a durable material, it can only be cut by another diamond.

After a distressing conflict with her family many years ago, Kerewin Holmes decides to dramatically change her lifestyle by isolating herself in a tower from every social force that occurs outside of her walls. While living alone in her tower, she forgets how necessary it is to be with company, but is determined to shield herself even after a boy enters her fortress. The father of the boy, Joe, describes Kerewin after meeting with her on several occurrences by saying she “…[is] covered with flames like knives. And a fierce hidden flame inside it, that sometimes dimmed taking all of the over-lights with it” (Hulme 90). Kerewin realizes how harmful relationships (as symbolized by the flames) can be since they are related to knives. Knives alone

The book was a great read and I couldn’t put it down. I’m willing to bet groupies have been one of the most sexually abused people on earth BEFORE they became groupies as are porn stars and prostitutes. It’s difficult to find a prostitute or porn star who hasn’t been sexually abused and when you are speaking about a high-strung group of very emotionally fragile people you are talking PTSD. I really think PTSD is a form of a nervous breakdown where your defenses are so hammered you can no longer cope. The resulting hormone stress response causes long term brain damage to the hippocampi and amygdala actually changing the sizes of these structures. Now add the epigenetic changes caused by the rush of adrenal corticosteroids bathing the brain

Thirty-six year old James Foster accompanied by his wife Megan signs his do-not-resuscitate order (DNR). Both Mr. Foster and his wife are understanding of what a do-not-resuscitate order is and are in agreeance. James has stage IV prostate cancer, but he is young and his wife believes he will pull through. A month passes, and early one morning James stops breathing, the patient is coding. Nurse Compton rushes in along with other medical professionals. Mrs. Foster is screaming, “Save him. Save him. Do whatever it takes to save him. Do not let him die.” Nurse Compton knows that Mr. Foster has a do-not-resuscitate order on file and feels not only sad in regards to the situational pain that Mrs. Foster is exhibiting, but morally conflicted with

In this chapter we get to see how Lia's fate has really taken a toll on her parents. We also see that the Lee's no longer feel like they can rely on the American medical system after what happened to Lia and instead they would use their own at home methods. Lia's pediatric neurologist also believed that the Lee's might have been right about Lia being affected from too much medication. After hearing this and looking at Lia's records, Neil and Peggy came to the realization that there should have treated her differently. This chapter really demonstrates the importance of culture and the need for doctors to be more accepting and understand of them. Unfortunately, there are doctors who are just not willing to comply. It is sad to see how much the Lee's had to suffer in order for people to open their eyes and it is even sadder that even with cases like this, there are doctors who still refuse to believe in anything outside their medical abilities.

1. (problem – PAS): In today’s society, Physician Assisted Suicide is one of the most questionable and debatable issues. Many people feel that it is wrong for people to ask their doctor to help them end their life; while others feel it is their right to choose between the right to life and the right to death. “Suffering has always been a part of human existence.” (PAS) “Physicians have no similar duty to provide actions, such as assistance in suicide, simply because they have been requested by patients. In deciding how to respond to patients ' requests, physicians should use their judgment about the medical appropriateness of the request.” (Bernat, JL) Physician Assisted Suicide differs from withholding or discontinuing medical treatment, it consists of doctors providing a competent patient with a prescription for medication to aid in the use to end their life.

According to Paul J. van der Wal et al. in ¨Euthanasia, Physician-Assisted Suicide, and Other Medical Practices Involving the End of Life in the Netherlands, 1990–1995¨, he addresses that assisted suicide should be legal and regulated. The authors’ purpose of writing this journal article is to make reliable estimates of euthanasia; to describe patients and physicians, and to evaluate changes between 1990 and 1995. Even though assisted suicide is a growing taboo, it is being practiced more each and every day. Paul J. van der Wal et al. chose to conduct two studies to answer their hypotheses.

Physician-Assisted Suicide is legalized in the following states: Oregon,California, Montana, Washington, Colorado, and Washington D.C. Oregon was the first state who legalized Physician-Assisted Suicide. “The very first annual report on the usage of the new Oregon Death with Dignity Act showed that 14 physicians prescribed medications under the law to 24 patients received prescriptions under the new law, of which 16 chose to take the medications. The patients’ median age of the patients was 69.”, (“MenuSite Navigation  Death with Dignity Act Annual Reports.” Oregon Health Authority : Death with Dignity Act Annual Reports : Death with Dignity Act : State of Oregon, www.oregon.gov/oha/PH/ProviderPartnerResources/EvaluationResearch/DeathwithDignityAct/Pages/ar-index.aspx.).

The topic I chose to write about is Physician-assisted suicide. My position on the topic is that I agree with physician-assisted suicide because it helps terminal ill people end their suffering faster than if they waited until the illness took their life away. Also, the terminal ill person decides that he/she wants to end his or hers life with a clear conscious knowing what is going to happen to them taking the physician-assisted suicide route to end their suffering. By the terminal ill person deciding that they want to end their life with physician-assisted suicide they are helping out their family. They help their family by reducing their pain that they feel and also by helping them financially because it is cheaper to end their life with

When discussing the topic of Physician Assisted Suicide, a controversial issue is the debate of whether or not it should be legalized in every state in our county. Physician Assisted Suicide also known as (PAS), refers to the act of when a terminally ill patient requests a lethal dosage of medication intended to end his or her life. This medication will typically be provided by a licensed physician. I believe that people who do not have a chance for long term survival should have the right to decide if they want to continue living a painful life. However, there are some people that disagree and refer to Physician Assisted self-inflicted murder, otherwise known as "Suicide".

Hippocrates said it best when he stated that “wherever the art of medicine is loved, there is also a love of humanity.” Throughout history, the purpose of practicing medicine was to alleviate ailments, treat diseases, and cure illnesses. Palliative care is a field of medicine that focuses on treating patients with advanced, often untreatable illnesses. As such, palliative care is designed to relieve pain and maintain a good quality of life for patients nearing the end of their lives. There are treatments available that provide pain suppression for the comfortability of the patient. However, there are illnesses that do more than just causing pain. Terminal illnesses such as Huntington’s disease can cause one to lose control of their body and ultimately the loss of personal autonomy. Often times, patients reach a vegetative state, which is a loss of all cognitive functions. Loss of autonomy has a detrimental effect on quality of life, and that is why there is an option for physician assisted suicide (PAS). Physician assisted suicide involves the physician writing a prescription for medication in which the patient takes with the purpose of overdosing (Dees et al). Currently, PAS is legal in Colorado, California, Oregon, Washington, and Vermont (Death with Dignity). PAS allows for patients with terminal illnesses to choose when they want to pass. As such, PAS is referred to as the Death with Dignity Act (Death with Dignity), because it allows the patients to demonstrate their

According to an article from CNN.com, there are currently five states in the U.S. where physician-assisted suicide is currently legal. In order to be eligible legally for PAS the patient must have six months or less to live. In the states of Oregon, California, Vermont, Washington and Montana a physician can prescribe medications to move along the death without being prosecuted for murder.

Throughout the years, euthanasia has been a highly debated topic. Not only has the legality of euthanasia been debated, but also which forms of euthanasia will be used. One of the types of euthanasia has become legal in five states. This form of euthanasia is called Physician Assisted Suicide. Physician Assisted Suicide requires the doctor to provide the patient with the lethal drugs, but the patient must take them. Legalizing physician assisted suicide would change end of life care as we know it.

One of the most controversial end-of-life decisions is “physician-assisted suicide” (PAS). This method of suicide involves a physician providing a patient, at his or her own request, with a lethal dose of medication, which the patient self-administers. The ethical acceptability and the desirability of legalization of this practice both continue to cause controversy (Raus, Sterckx, Mortier 1). Vaco v. Quill and Washington v. Glucksberg were landmark decisions on the issue of physician-assisted suicide and a supposed Constitutional right to commit suicide with another's assistance. In Washingotn v. Glucksberg, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the state of Washington's ban on physician-assisted suicide was not unconstitutional.

The topic that my group chose for the AP Capstone group project was Physician Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia, as we all thought that it would be a topic that would be interesting to write about. Additionally, my group was curious about the topic, and personally, I have aspirations to have some sort of career in the medical field one day. Another member in our group was very interested in law, and the other was curious about the topic, so we decided to go with the topic of physician assisted suicide and euthanasia. However, we originally thought that the group paper would be a very easy assignment as we, as a group had worked on other papers together before, but having our papers flow together and editing down repeated or unnecessary information was way harder than I