Assisted Suicide

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Assisted Suicide

HCA322: Health Care Ethics & Medical Law

May 13, 2013

“There is nothing more sacred than life and there is nothing more natural in life to wish to cling on to it for those you love! And nothing more cruel than to play god by artificially holding onto that which god wants to bring home.-Author Unknown” (Pozgar, 2012 pg. 123) It has long been said that each human being has the right to live; yet the question that many are asking is do we also have the right to die? Since humans have existed suffering has always been part of their existence. The request to help end suffering by assisted suicide has occurred since the beginning of medicine. This paper will explore physician-assisted suicide in depth. First by providing a brief history of assisted suicide; physician assisted suicide is not a new phenomenon it dates back centuries. Next it will identify one of the legal issues of wither the Constitution protects the right to die and the ethical dilemma that physicians deal with of taking a patient’s life when they are trained to save lives. Then this paper will present current issues pertaining to assisted suicide; such as which states have laws allowing forms of assisted suicide. This paper will also evaluate better solutions for assisted suicide. Finally it will analyze the potential effects of this issue and I will predict how this issue may be addressed in the future. Throughout this paper it will discuss the elements of autonomy, fidelity and confidentiality as well as analyze the evolution and application of moral theory and ethical principles in health care.

Assisted suicide has been around since ancient Greek and Roman times. The debate began with the Hippocratic Oath which originated in Greek and Roman times. The original Hippocratic Oath stated “To please no one will I prescribe a deadly drug, nor give advice which may cause his death.” (Hippocratic Oath, 2011) While the Hippocratic Oath prohibited physicians...