At this age, where individuals can have alternative opinions, it has become challenging to separate myths from reality when it comes to some ethical dilemmas in medicine. Topics revolving around the right-to-die have been controversial for long and remain debatable. Medical professionals and other stakeholders take different sides regarding these issues, with each side having a justification for their side. A right to die can be defined as a concept often based on human opinions that individuals are entitled to voluntary end of life or euthanasia (Benatar, 2010) . Possessing this right states that individuals without the will to live should be granted permission to end their lives.
The second controversial topic is euthanasia. It can be defined as a practice of voluntarily and intentionally ending a life to end suffering (Math & Chatuverdi, 2012) . Euthanasia is mostly illegal in the US but legal in some states like California. The other controversial issue in medicine is physician-assisted suicide. It involves physicians helping patients die by administering death hastening medications (Goligher et al., 2018). Physicians execute the wish of a terminally ill or suffering patient who requests to be relieved of the pain.
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Based on my understanding of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, I would classify Mr. Barnes' case as physician-assisted suicide. Physicians at Methodist Hospital were adamant about providing dialysis treatment to Barnes since he had dementia and the fact that his condition could not improve. Despite the bad condition of Mr. Barnes, providing dialysis treatment as his wife demanded would have helped prolong his life with support instruments. The case fails to be euthanasia because no communication was made about Mr. Barnes' autonomy.
Physician-assisted suicide is a controversial topic. In the cases of right-to-die, physicians have no assigned role for helping patients die. According to Vizcarrondo (2013), killing is not the role of the physician. The physician should take care of the suffering individual with compassion and love, showing utmost respect and never causing any harm. In extreme situations where right-to-die is legal, physicians can make patients comfortable or provide them with death hastening medication. However, if a physician is uncomfortable, he/she should not get involved.
References
Benatar, D. (2010). Should there be a legal right to die? Current Oncology, 17 (5), 2-3. https://dx.doi.org/10.3747%2Fco.v17i5.671
Goligher, E. C., Ely, E. W., Sulmacy, D., Bakker, J., Raphael, J., Volandes, A. E., . . . Downar, J. (2018). Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia in the Intensive Care Unit: A Dialogue on Core Ethical Issues. Critical Care Medicine, 45 (2), 149-155. https://dx.doi.org/10.1097%2FCCM.0000000000001818
Math, S. B., & Chatuverdi, S. K. (2012). Euthanasia: Right to life vs right to die. Indian Journal of Medical Research, 136 (6), 899-902.
Vizcarrondo, F. E. (2013). Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: The Physician's Role. The Linacre Quarterly, 80 (2), 99-102. https://dx.doi.org/10.1179%2F0024363912Z.0000000002
