What if your doctor diagnosed you with an incurable disease, and he only gave you three months to live. Out of those three months, they were filled with agonizing pain. Would you prolong your life of agony for the ones who can not seem to let you go, or would you want to end all of the suffering. Just letting go of all that pain like popping a balloon to release the compressed air inside it. Who are the selfish ones? Friends and family do not understand the pain nor suffering, but only you can make the decision to end all of the suffering by being euthanized.
There are many diseases, viruses, and illnesses that most can be cured with today’s cutting edge technology, but there are some diseases that can not be cured due to many factors. Either it’s an autoimmune disorder (the body’s own immune system is attacking the body), cancer (uncontrolled division of cells in the body), or AIDS (a sexually transmitted disease which affects the body’s cellular immunity). These are just a couple of examples of incurable diseases, illnesses, or viruses that are not curable. There may be prescriptions for these diseases but have many side effects to the body. “Specifically, corticosteroids and TNF (tumor necrosis factor) inhibitors are two types of medications that can increase your chances of getting a fungal infection” (“Fungal Disease”). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains how these medications lower the body’s own immune system, but leaves the body exposed to developing fungal diseases that can be fatal due to the side effects of the medication. A more serious example would be liver cancer. According to the CDC, by the year of 2014 in the United States 31,411 people were diagnosed with liver cancer (22,472 were men and 8,939 were women) and 24,598 people (16,623 were men and 8,075 were woman) died from liver cancer (“Liver Cancer”). Liver cancer is extremely difficult to treat or even detect at early stages because it is rarely detectable at an early stage when it can be treatable. Also it is extremely difficult to treat liver cancer due to the networks of blood vessels and bile ducts of the liver that makes surgery very difficult for doctors to treat. At this stage the patient is on his/her last limb to survive which is excruciating for them to cope or even to survive. Why not skip the process of prolonging their lives when euthanasia can end it all for them.
Euthanasia is composed of three chemicals. The three drugs used for euthanasia are sodium thiopental or pentobarbital, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride. Each drug plays a part of the lethal injection known as euthanasia. Sodium thiopental or pentobarbital is used to put the patient unconscious, pancuronium bromide is used to cause respiratory arrest, and potassium chloride is used to stop the heart. With these combinations of drugs it makes euthanasia feel painless as if you’re going to sleep. Scientist tested on animals to decide what drugs to use in order to achieve the perfect combination for euthanasia. “ Zebra fish (Danio rerio) are a popular vertebrate model for developmental studies and biomedical research. In 2010, over half the animals used in Canada for scientific purposes were fish” (“Conditioned Placed Avoidance”). Zebra fish are a popular testing subject for biomedical research which helped develop the three cocktail components of euthanasia. Potassium chloride is described as extremely painful when injected because it’s toxic scientist decided to use sodium thiopental to induce a state of relaxation while pancuronium bromide slowly shuts the body’s respiratory making it seem as if the patient who is being euthanized is falling asleep.
Euthanasia is a great solution for those who are suffering and have no chance of survival. Assisted suicide is extremely controversial due to laws regulating suicide and manslaughter. “The movement in favor of euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide is primarily interpreted as a vote for individual autonomy and freedom of choice” (“Other People’s Lives”). The article states that it is the patient’s freedom of choice to decide whether he/she wants to be euthanized. In most states physician assisted suicide or euthanasia is considered manslaughter and also classified under law as an act of assisted suicide. All of which could lead to life in prison for manslaughter and fourteen years in prison for assisted suicide. If euthanasia were to be legalized in most states then more physician would volunteer to do the job but that is just one barrier preventing physicians from volunteering.
Euthanasia is legal in the states of Washington DC, California, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, and in Washington. Why don’t people hear about the topic? A study was conducted on why euthanasia is complex to legalize due to religion and also physicians who are willing to volunteer to conduct the assisted suicide. It also states how suicide should be morally accepted. “This rested on her belief that suicide could be morally acceptable—not that it always is, but that it can be” (“Legalization of Assisted Suicide”). If a patient who is dying and suffering suicide should not be considered to be selfish nor looked down upon. No matter how hard it is to let someone go, it is best to realize that we all come and go in life. We all come to an end, but why keep someone alive when they’re on the verge of dying? Why be afraid to accept the truth when you’re only causing nothing but pain for your loved one. Euthanasia should be viewed morally because it is relieving someone of suffering.
According to the article “Legalization of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia” it describes why majority of all physicians who do not volunteer to administer euthanasia or assisted suicide was based on their religion and also their code of conduct. The code of conduct that physicians make is that they make an oath to save lives and by euthanizing their patients it is breaking their code of conduct. Religion is the biggest barrier that most physicians have because they’re religion prohibits them from killing someone. If religion were to separate from work and the choices of others then euthanasia would become morally accepted. If most physicians were to separate that from a workplace environment then maybe everyone who is willing to be euthanized could end all of the pain and misery they are enduring due to doctors and close ones keeping that patient who is dying a live.
In states where euthanasia is not legalized, the patients who are on the verge of dying or know that they have a small percentage of living they resort to a different type of method. A method that a lot of patients resort to is refusing medication or treatment. Since euthanasia is not available to them a lot of terminally ill patients do the extreme to relieve themselves from that pain. From a standpoint would you want to undergo a process of medication and testing that have side effects which are painful. From experience blood thinners are extremely painful and the pain gets excruciating when an IV (intravenous) is inserted. Think about all the other medications that are far worse than blood thinners. Would you want to undergo those procedures? If you were to make the decision to refuse the medication given to you or the treatment why not get euthanized. Euthanasia would make your desire of not suffering anymore come to reality.
For patients who refuse to take medication rather than getting euthanized would you want that medical bill to be charged to your family or would you want that medical bill to be payable and affordable? Why take the time to wait till you pass away for that medical bill to be charged extremely high to the point a family member is going to be stuck with that debt when that patient dies. Being euthanized will ensure a swift and painless death for those who are already planning on ending it. Rather than just making yourself endure all of that pain just to end your life resort to euthanasia. Let’s say you were in hospice for the remaining time you had and your family came to visit you four to five times a week. Would you be happy to say you goodbye to the ones you love or wait till your body does not have the strength to say those two words for you. You’ll have the ability to say goodbye to the ones you love after the lethal injection is administered.
From a standpoint I am one of a little hand full who is looking to being euthanized in the future. The reason why is because of the year 2017 I was currently diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder known as Hashimoto’s but also am currently being tested for liver cancer and autoimmune hepatitis. My doctor told me that I am prone to getting severely sick but have a slim chance of surviving due to my immune system. I experienced what pain really felt like when i was in ICU (intensive care unit) and I for sure do not want to experience it another time. From that experience I learned that I was not going to live for that long and that it opened up my mind to being euthanized if the time does come. Why suffer with immense pain being poked, drawing blood, being injected with medication every hour for a long period of time. All of the medications and testing has painful side effects knowing that it is all coming to an end. Euthanasia would be a great solution for that particular situation, because it will relieve the pain, suffering, and also the wait for everything to occur.
Euthanasia is a great solution to relieve suffering because it will grant the patient’s ability to pass on. Not only that it will open many solutions for patients who are willing to end their lives humanely as possible rather than just refusing medication. If we were to be given the option from our very own physician about euthanasia then a lot more people will resort to being euthanized rather than playing the waiting game. Some might claim this is selfish but in reality who is the selfish ones? The one who is suffering or the one who wants to keep the loved one alive in fear of losing them. Ask yourself who are the real selfish ones are in this particular situation. Euthanasia should be viewed as a noble sacrifice because the person undergoing the procedure of being euthanized has more strength than anyone else to make a decision such like that. Euthanasia should not be looked down upon but should be viewed in a positive perspective.
People who are terminally ill should resort to being euthanized as a means to relieving themselves but also the physician should make the effort of fulfilling the patient’s request. When the time where both parties are communicating properly to ensure they both come to terms of administering euthanasia then both parties are pleased. The physician is following their code of conduct by helping a patient and secondly the patient got their request fulfilled. Euthanasia is a great solution for those suffering and there is no wrong in being euthanized for a physician because they are fulfilling their duty on providing the help to a person of need of medical attention, and that patients call for help is for the physician to end their suffering.
Works Cited Page
Wong, Devina, et al. “Conditioned Place Avoidance of Zebrafish (Danio Rerio) to Three Chemicals Used for Euthanasia and Anaesthesia.” Plos ONE, vol. 9, no. 2, Feb. 2014, pp. 1-6. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0088030.
Fenigsen, Richard. “Other People’s Lives: Reflections on Medicine, Ethics, and Euthanasia.” Issues in Law & Medicine, 26, no. 1, Issues in Law & Medicine, Summer 2010, pp. 33-76. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=52701615&site=ehost-live.
Murphy, Scan. “Legalization of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: Foundational Issues and Implications.” BYU Journal of Public Law, vol. 31, no. 2, June 2017, pp. 333-394. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=123908135&site=ehost-live.
“Liver Cancer.” Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, June 2017, www.cdc.gov/cancer/liver/index.htm
“Medications that Weaken Your Immune System and Fungal Infections.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Jan 2017,www.cdc.gov/fungal/infections/immune-system.html
Anneser, Johanna, et al. “Physician-Assisted Suicide, Euthanasia and Palliative Sedation: Attitudes and Knowledge of Medical Students.” [“Ärztlich assistierter Suizid, Tötung auf Verlangen und palliative Sedierung: Einstellungen undWissensstand von Medizinstudierenden”]. GMS Journal for Medical Education, vol. 33, no. 1, Jan. 2016, pp. 1-14. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3205/zma001010.
urphy, Scan. “Legalization of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: Foundational Issues and Implications.” BYU Journal of Public Law, vol. 31, no. 2, June 2017, pp. 333-394. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=123908135&site=ehost-live.
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