Some Of The Most Important Death With Dignity Pros And Cons

Publié par Unknown on mardi 19 mai 2015

By Tammie Caldwell


Euthanasia is a controversial topic in the media at this time. It is subject to extreme argument, which is then presented by the media. Sometimes, individual cases go to court, where a medical practitioner is typically charged with something. This issue requires proper attention, and for more than one reason. Part of understanding it is knowing the death with dignity pros and cons.

Part of the issue's source is that modern medical techniques allow for the protracted survival of terminally ill patients. Some patients survive for years with a condition that would have been lethal in a much shorter time in past eras. Even so, after those years they eventually deteriorate into a near-death state and no further treatment is available. This is when they sometimes request mercy killing, or euthanasia.

Soldiers have been known to euthanase the terminally wounded after a battle. Ending the suffering of the terminally diseased or injured is not a new approach in the human response to these situations, and has been practised through the ages. Some patients even unilaterally terminate their treatment and allow themselves to die or they commit suicide. None of this is surprising or new in human experience.

Despite this, the law in most countries does not give medical staff permission to terminate their patients. The rationale behind such laws is self-explanatory. Medical staff cannot be permitted to euthanase patients under their care because they may then terminate those who may well have survived, for whatever reason. The court cases that arise typically revolve around medical personnel who either apply for official permission to euthanase a patient or who have already performed the procedure and are being prosecuted.

A famous case involved a doctor in the UK, Harold Shipman, who murdered 285 elderly patients. Although they were unaware of the intentions of their doctor, he used poison to kill them. Providing doctors with permission to perform euthanasia may enable medical staff with such intentions to act on them. Sentenced to prison, Shipman himself committed suicide on his 58th birthday.

The most common form of modern euthanasia is lethal injection. It is similar to the technique that is used in some states to execute prisoners on death row. The doctor uses substances that are not sold to the public. These should only be used by a medical practitioner, because they can be administered in lethal doses and might also be prescribed as medication in lower doses.

Some patients suffer extreme pain on an everyday basis or they are so incapacitated that they lose enthusiasm for future palliative care. They sometimes resort to less conventional methods, such as self-medicating with illegal street drugs, or they commit suicide through the more common ways. But if they are not able to commit suicide, they ask their treating practitioner to end their lives.

The unresolved debate about mercy killing occupies space in the media and other public discussion forums. At the same time, the patients themselves are committing suicide or organize their own private euthanasia. It is important to place official measures of control on the medical profession, but the terrible symptoms of terminal patients perhaps necessitate exceptions.




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