Question

Hi could you respond to the below questions for me pls:

What are some of the ethical and legal issues related to physician assisted suicide? What role should patient's preferences and their perspective of quality of life impact whether assisted suicide is legal?

Answer 1

Physician assisted suicide is  the practice of providing a competent patient with a prescription for medication for the patient to use with the primary intention of ending his or her own life; the patient would have to self-administer the medication, directly or through a machine.(1)

In lay words physician assisted suicide is when a patient who are terminally ill , and has any debilitating diseases or any suffering can end their life by self administering the physician's prescription of medicine.

Physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician's role as healer, would be difficult or impossible to control, and would pose serious societal risks.(2)

The patient's end up for physician assisted suicide because they may be emotional , fed up with their suffering, no prognosis in their condition, feeling being a burden to others , or an inaccurate cause . First the physician can refer them to social workers, hospice care and psychiatrists . The physician also should explain the next level of care patient needs, inspite all this if patient still decides for PAS physician has to respect the autonomy of patient.

A sound physical and mental health is one of the quality indicator of life , when that is lost by an individual and it cannot be regained even after long suffering and treatment ,the patient should be given rights to end their life with dignity and respect.The physician assisted suicide may be used illegally too , so before accepting request of the patient, physician should take necessary actions to help patient to change the decision as there are more legal & ethical issues involved. Only some states in US has made physician assisted suicide legal.

Ref:

1. Webster's New World Medical Dictionary.3rd ed. Wiley Publishing, Inc; 2008. [Last accessed on 2012 Apr 12]. Definition of physician assisted suicide
2. Opinion 2.211 Physician-Assisted Suicide. American Medical Association. Code of Medical Ethics 2008-2009 Edition. Chicago, IL: American Medical Association; 2008