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OK, I didn't know that...that doesn't sound bad at all, I was thinking that if a person was declared incompetent a family member would make that decisian...I'm glad that's not so, thanks for clarifying that for me.
I have heard that those that are suffering, as medication for the pain is increased, often "slip" away into death at the point where the medication is so heavy to relief the pain and suffering. I don't have a problem with that but just giving a lethal administered dose that would end my life or that of a loved one, no.
When a doctor ups a morphine dose or gives morphine to a patient who has breathing difficulties (morphine depresses breathing) they are in fact giving a lethal drug to a patient, because they know what the effects will be. This is called the "double effect" in the medical community.
IMHO for a doctor to be against PAS (but willing to give morphine when they know it will end a life) is contradictory.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnywhereElse
I am afraid that many would choose this in order to save the expense of care that would fall upon existing family members like an obligation to die which might fall in line with how insurance companies can save money and having a death board decide who should live and who should die. I am kind of old-fashioned though.
While it might be a possible reason for a patient to request PAS, the medical community should be able to determine whether the patient is indeed doing this under duress from their family (for financial reasons) or if they are truly suffering.
But - I think if someone has a terminal illness and wants PAS because they do not want to leave their family in a bad financial state, I say that it is up to them
Death with dignity is a term used for legalized physician-assisted suicide, with some restrictions, for people that are terminally ill. The clinical term for it is euthanasia. It is a practice that ends life in order to relieve a person of excruciating pain and suffering in their final days when the person requests it.
It's legal in Oregon, Washington and Montana. It is now coming up for a vote in Massachusetts and is being discussed by legislators in New Jersey.
How do you feel about the idea of physicians helping a competent, terminally ill patient that requests an end to their pain and suffering? Should they be allowed to assist in terminating the life or should nature just be allowed to take its course without intervention?
Absolutely, positively. Once the dying begins, dragging it out is inhuman. We understand that when it is an animal, but not a person.
No one has the right to tell me when I can take my own life, under any circumstances. If I choose to have assistance in doing so, that shouldn't be questioned either.
No one has the right to tell me when I can take my own life, under any circumstances. If I choose to have assistance in doing so, that shouldn't be questioned either.
I wish the philosophy of death with dignity became widespread. That said, there are many parties with vested financial interests in keeping the dying on Earth as long as possible.
Vested financial interests in keeping people alive, at whatever costs to that person? I work in a LTC/Rehab facility and the other night, in the well-occupied breakroom, I revealed the news that this Fall two more states were up to a vote on a Right to Die Law!
You should have seen their faces and any smiles evaporate!!! :shocked
Nurses are purported to be the models of nurturing and caring, but undermine their financial security, in any way, and out comes their true colors: Green!
The facility I work in is owned by a huge corporation, with sister facilities scattered all the over the country, and you better believe, when a Right to Die Law gets proposed in any state, they're right there to safeguard their profits with an army of lobbyists!
As far as a Dr. telling me when I should die, I'm hoping, one day, some kind, thoughtful Dr. will do me that favor me and I'll send him thank-you cards from the afterlife! The majority of people don't know when enough is enough and they really need that kind of intervention!
Working in this facility for 11 years, what are the many excuses for not calling it quits? Even those in the most pitiful, hopeless states, I've heard it too often: I want to stay alive long enough to see my grandkids graduate from high school or college.......................................and. ................................a few years later......................I want to live long enough to see my first great-great grankids....................and on and on and on and on it goes ad infinitum!
And what a sight for those grandkids to finally see grandma or grandpa!!!!
There's the catheter bag, the colostomy bag, the woundvac, the G-tube coming out of the middle of the stomach, and the IV lines! "Can I take a picture, Grandma?"
Last edited by tijlover; 10-17-2012 at 12:08 AM..
Reason: edit
There is some real irony in these discussions on "right to die"laws. Many people will tell you about the 500 reasons we need to see a greatly diminished government presence in our lives. Then, they go right on and complete their diatribe with all the reasons we should or shouldn't have laws that coincide with their own particular world views on a variety of issues.
I always ask, "which is it", do you want freedom? Or do you want just those freedoms that you think are consistent with your religion, your politics, or your own twisted beliefs? Believe it or not this is really at the crux of ALL of our social friction in the USA at present. People want infrastructure but not the corresponding tax to pay for it, they want some type of "freedom" from the government they fear so much, but are willing to lord it over others who don't share their beliefs, some want education but also fear and hate educated people. Our rights are something that we need to see as a possible sacrifice of our own best interests, those rights may allow someone to do things you would never indulge in, rights mean having the brains to give AND take, to disagree but still live in social harmony.
This particular question of rights is so personal that it begs for the kind of understanding we know is in short supply these days. I hope that we can come together for once and speculate on the difficulty of someone facing this decision at life's crucial point, see this person as we would see ourselves, and know that it is definitely a matter of personal choice. Life isn't forever, and religious beliefs aside, we all are of free will to do what we think is best, without needing to be validated or judged by others.
I agree Sunny Dee, I would too...but no way do I agree with having a doctor do it for you, and no way do I feel it's a good thing to make it legal for them to do so....part of the hippocratic oath doctors take says " I will not give a deadly drug to anybody if asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect"....but that's not the only reason I'm against it...everyone has the right to choose to die, but I feel it's unfair to expect someone else to do the deed, if you won't do it yourself...also by making euthanasia legal, I'm afraid it could be abused.
Doctors do not do it for you with assisted suicide. I am participating in the retirement forum discussion of this topic so I thought I would add my two cents here too.
I live in a state where Assisted Suicide is legal. I have known two terminally ill people who chose it as a way to leave this life. One was my dearest and best friend the other was a neighbor. In order to have it, patients must be terminally ill. They have to have a doctor's certification of this. More than one actually. A psychological examination is done. There is no "doctor death" machine or a "doctor death" hovering over the patient as many think. It is not a Dr Kevorkian thing. Patients are given the appropriate drugs to take when for when they feel the time is right. Social workers will check up on them regularly prior to them taking the drugs for as long as needed. Patients can have their loved ones around them. They can make arrangements as to when they want to depart this world. It's in their hands.
The thing is, as the nurse told my friend, most patients have the drugs but never wind up using them. They usually die before they get the opportunity take them. Like my friend, they die in hospice. Like the neighbor they may just die in their sleep. But the pills are a great comfort. The patients are completely aware they are going to die. They are terminal. They are comforted in the idea that if the pain gets to be too much they have an out. They can have their families by their bedside if they want. They are in control.
And even though it is legal in Oregon, there are still not a great number of people who chose to leave this life in this manner.
It is about a man with ALS who travels to Switzerland to get assisted suicide from the organization called Dignitas, which provides that there.
The comment section of that site is very interesting too - over 400 comments on this topic.
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