Physician-Assisted Suicide is a process where a healthcare provider facilitates the death of the patient by providing the necessary means and information to enable the patient to perform the life-ending act. When the patient is in extreme duress, such as suffering from a terminal, painful, debilitating illness, one may decide that death is the preferable alternative over life. Physician-assisted suicide is controversial because it is against the physician's role as a healer or protector of human life. But choosing death over life through assisted suicide can be the only alternative to avoid pain and terminal illness that compromises the patient's quality of life.
The statutes about death with dignity allow adults with good mental judgment suffering from terminal illness to end their lives. The person should have less than six months to live, and they can request and receive medical prescriptions that can help end life. Allowing patients to have a voluntary option to end-of-life care enables them to control their lives and have peace of mind during their final days of living. The protection in the statutes plays a critical role in ensuring that patients are at the center of end-of-life care discussions.
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Across the world, people have different social acceptance towards physician-assisted suicide. Studies indicate that about half of physicians in the Netherlands have performed assisted suicide on patients with terminal illnesses, even though they seem to do it reluctantly. In chapter eight of the book, Leming and Dickinson (2020) mentioned that "even though there is social acceptance of physician-assisted suicide, these deaths comprise 2% of total annual deaths in Netherlands" p. 287. The reluctance of the doctors to file reports of the cases is one of the reasons for the relatively small number of physician-assisted deaths in the country. The unwillingness of the doctors to report assisted suicide was due to a lot of paperwork they were supposed to work on.
The procedure used to arrive at physician-assisted suicide is complex and it first involves the patient's consent. In the YouTube interview, Dr Jack Kevorkian states that "the patient is the first person to decide when to receive assisted death, but the role of the physician is to evaluate the situation using data to determine if the wish of the patient is medically justified." Before administering physician-assisted death, the wish of the patient to end life must coincide with the medical justification. In the YouTube the Suicide Tourist: Assisted suicide documentary, a doctor named Ludwig Minelli is captured, stating that "when patients say they are tired with awful and painful life we can assist them to commit suicide." When ending the life of the 63-year-old patient, doctors explain to the individual that he/she will be given a lethal drug mixed with apple juice and should drink on their own without being forced. The drug used to end the patient's life is similar to that used for killing dogs and horses, and it is given in high dosage.
From the readings and YouTube videos, the process of assisting patients in ending their lives is complicated and emotional to the family members. For example, the wife of the man who is assisted to end his life is showing a lot of emotions that she will not see her husband again. In the video, the woman is crying and full of sorrow that the life she has spent with her husband for 37 years is ending in just a few hours. The patient is also full of emotions that he will die without accomplishing some of the things in life and leaving the entire family behind.
The protection of human life has been recognized as the essential component of public good by society and considered an inviolable right. It enables all people to live with dignity. The culture that allows assisted suicide among the patients makes the lives of the elderly, the sick, and those living with disabilities to be vulnerable. Society needs to learn that ending a life of an individual is not easy even though it is acceptable in some circumstances. It is painful and emotional for the family and relatives. People need to learn that administering Physician-assisted suicide to critically ill patients is not easy, and it is full of emotions. The process denies the family the joy of living with one of their kin after being assisted in committing suicide. It can cause depression to close relatives and family members. I have learned that before administering physician-assisted suicide, it is vital to ensure that the patient and the family members agree that the life of the patient needs to end because of justifiable reasons to help reduce stress and emotions.
Empowering doctors to assist patients to end their lives can compromise people's trust in the medical profession. The healthcare providers play a critical role in presenting and shaping patient care decisions. The family members find it essential to depend on the physicians to make the necessary decision that ensures that the patient has a quality life even if it is to end life to reduce pain and suffering. Since human life matters, it is critical to ensure that assisting patients to commit suicide should be justifiable. I have learned that it causes a lot of stress and emotion to the family members.
References
Crime Beat TV. (2012, August 8). The Suicide Tourist: Assisted suicide documentary[Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaR4xx2si6g
Denise deNevers. (1996, May). Dr. JACK KEVORKIAN FULL INTERVIEW MAY OF 1996 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozwoYhxdbTQ
Leming, M. R. and G. E. Dickinson. Understanding dying, death, and bereavement . Cengage Learning, 2020.
