Munchausen's Article Review

Jordan Newman

March 31, 2014

Will to Kill - Dr. Barrett

Article and Chapter Review

Watching someone you love suffering from a terminal illness is an extremely difficult thing to endure. Some may allow nature to run its course and the person dies after succumbing to the their illness. However, others may not want to see that person suffer any longer than necessary. When a person who is terminally ill or a person who loves them has made that decision, they contact the necessary professionals and determine the next set of actions. Now some may disagree with this and others may not but there are laws in place that deem such actions a crime. Personally, I cannot say that I am completely against it because my mom died from cancer and seeing someone in such pain and discomfort increased my understanding for why someone would fathom such an idea. While to do understand why some would commit such an action, some people also take advantage of the idea and use it to their advantage and not necessarily for the good of the person who is suffering.

One article that discusses the acts of euthanasia is “Accusations of Murder and Euthanasia in End-of-Life Care”. The authors set out to discuss multiple cases of euthanasia and then go in to detail to about the fact and figures that go into the topic. Nurses and doctors from all types of practices work with these patients and assisted them with euthanasia can be charged with murder and lose everything important in their lives including their job and money. The article then goes on to talk about the Rule of Double Effect (RDE) and how morality is intertwined on both sides of the argument. The RDE basically said that if a doctor or nurse had done everything that they could that was “good” and not harmful for the patient, then the assisting with euthanasia would be morally acceptable. The article did make some valid arguments stating the flaws in the RDE as well. Usually, when a patient has gotten to the point where...