REPORT (FINAL)

Apollonia Poliseno
Prof. Marsh
Tues. & Thurs. 9:10am.
Due April 24, 2007

Physician Assisted Suicide (Final Paper)

Physician assisted suicide is illegal in every state except Oregon. If you live anywhere else in the United States, you must suffer a long painful, dreadful death. Just pull the plug! I think a person should have the right to chose when they want to die.
If I was told, “There is nothing else possible we can do for you, we have worn out possibilities to save your life. Eventually you will dwindle down to nothing and will be unable to eat, breathe, speak, or walk on your own ever again,” those words would not only scare me but I would wonder how my family would be able to cope. If I were a resident in Oregon, all I would have to do is have a conversation with my physician about the lethal dose I will take to end my life and suffering.
All physicians swear to the Hippocratic Oath. The Hippocratic Oath enjoins physicians to act solely for the good of the sick. In certain rare cases modern medical care is not able to ease the physical and mental suffering of a terminally ill patient and the doctor may be doing more harm by keeping the patient alive against his wishes than by helping him to die. (Valla, Tony).
The physician provides the means for death, most often with a prescription, “The patient, not the physician will ultimately administer the lethal medication.” (Clarence H. Braddock III, MD). “Physician assisted suicide generally refers to a practice in which the physician provides a patient with a lethal dose of medication, upon the patients’ request, which the patient intends to use to end his or her own life” (Graham, Roger).
In 1997, Oregon voters reasserted their desire to make physician assisted suicide legal. (Cunningham, Annette). Under the Death with Dignity law, a person who required physician assisted suicide would have to meet certain criteria. The person: must be terminally ill; have six months or less to live; make two oral requests; one written request; convince two physicians that she/he is sincere, is not acting on a whim, and that the decision is voluntary. He/she must not have been influenced by depression; be informed of “the feasible alternatives, including, but not limited to comfort care, hospice care and pain control.” If the individual meets all of these requirements, then they would be able to obtain a prescription of a barbiturate that would be sufficient to cause a death. The ultimate decision to take the medication would be left to the individual. (Humphrey, Derek).
If a patient's doctor does not participate in the act, how can they get a prescription? The patient must find another M.D. or D.O. licensed to practice medicine in Oregon who is willing to participate. The Oregon Department of Human Services does not recommend doctors, nor can they give the names of participating physicians or patients due to the need to defend confidentiality.
Just pull the plug! I would want the option to spare myself and my family the pain and suffering of a slow death. I feel it is time for every state to consider the compassionate law of Death with Dignity. A revision of the Hippocratic Oath may be in order to allow physicians to assist his/her patients to choose their time of death. If the ability to cure is out of the physician’s hand, a person should be able to choose the next course of action.