Euthanasa

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In the article “The Value of Planned Death”, Chan and Lien express their views on how medical cost, is the main reason why the ill might make the decision of performing euthanasia. These patients can’t afford treatment to cure or control their pain from the disease, so they go with the option of euthanasia. The authors believe that there are only certain cases when people should choose euthanasia, if there is a big probability that they won’t undergo pain it’s pointless, but if they have a big chance of going through a lot of suffering it should be considered. They provide their information in a “theoretical model” which calculates the cost of medical care and euthanasia, and which option patients can benefit from more. Chan and Lien believe if more money were to be spent trying to help these suffering patients, than less people will have euthanasia performed (Chan.2010).

Depression and anxiety is a serious psychological illness that ranges in severity. The medical literature suggests that the incidence of major depression in terminally ill patients ranges from 25% to 77%. A common source of anxiety in seriously ill patients—or at least of patient agitation and disorientation—is sleep deprivation. Patients are awakened several times every night for blood pressure checks, blood draws, change of intravenous lines, and other medical interventions. Advanced disease increases the likelihood of depression. The more symptoms of dying the patients are experiencing, the more likely they will feel depressed. It is both associated with intense suffering and a cause of intense suffering. Depression attends generally to cases of physical limit and chronic disease. Psychological and cognitive symptoms associated with depression include sadness, flat affect, anxiousness, irritability, a sense of worthlessness, hopelessness, helplessness, guilt and despair, anhedonia, and loss of self-esteem. Another sign of depression in the terminally ill patient is pain that is not responding to treatment as expected. The focus on euthanasia rather than on treatment, and state support for palliative and psychological treatment makes premature physician assisted death a default option. Associated with the problem of depression is that of spiritual pain experienced by many terminally or irreversibly ill patients. Studies have shown that individuals who are intrinsically religious—who do not participate in religion or prayer for any sort of secondary gain—have an easier time letting go and making end-of-life decisions than those who are extrinsically religious. About 96% of persons nationwide say they believe in a deity and some sort of afterlife, which leads the patients to think "Why me?”. Depression is managed with psychotherapeutic intervention, cognitive approaches, and behavioral interventions. (Fine 2001)

Asking doctors to abandon their obligation to preserve human life could damage the doctor-patient relationship. Speeding up death on a regular basis could become a routine administrative task for doctors, leading to a lack of compassion when dealing with elderly, disabled or terminally ill people. In turn, people with complex health needs or severe disabilities could become distrustful of their doctor’s efforts and intentions. They may think that their doctor would rather "kill them off" than take responsibility for a complex and demanding case. Euthanasia undermines our trust in the medical profession. When we sanction euthanasia, the frail, elderly and sick cannot be confident that doctors will treat them rather than terminate them. Suffering and sick people need assurance and comfort, not anxiety and fear as to what their doctors may do with them. Many factors can be considered as reasons for doctors/hospitals to perform involuntary euthanasia such as to save money or to free up beds/space. Lord Walton, the chairman of a House of Lords committee on medical ethics looking into euthanasia spoke on the subject: “We concluded that it was virtually impossible to ensure that all acts of euthanasia were truly voluntary…” To continue with the doctor’s position on the subject, we must first underline that the Hippocratic oath that is made from the majority of the doctors around the world, and has lead and still leads their consciences for centuries, is outright, and bluntly prohibitive to any act or attempt of euthanasia. According to an American doctor (Leon R. Kass, p. 136), killing patients even those who ask for death- violates the inner meaning of the art of healing; for example, Dr. Jack Kevorkian.

Jack Kevorkian was a pathologist who assisted in patient suicides. He earned the nickname Dr. Death after he developed the “terminal human experimentation” method in which he used convicts on death row in “painless” medical experiments. He even went as far as to assemble the “Thanatron”, a suicide machine that consisted of three bottles which delivered doses of fluids. This even allowed patients to administer it to themselves. He went on to develop a new machine that administered carbon monoxide through a gas mask. In 1991 he went to trial in Michigan after performing assisted suicide on a woman with Alzheimer’s. The case was dismissed but his medical license was suspended and the next year Michigan outlawed assisted suicide. However he continued to perform the assisted suicide procedures and was prosecuted four times and in 1999 was found guilty of second-degree murder and illegal delivery of a controlled substance and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Before conviction he assisted over 130 people in killing themselves during the 1990s.

In a New York Times article by Wesley Smith, he convincingly dissipates the popular claim that assisted suicide, if legalized, would remain a voluntary option available only to patients who are experiencing inflexible pain and for whom death is imminent. Using extensive research, historical analyses, patients' stories, and interviews with doctors, ethicists, and activists, the author exposes the common cons which characterize this debate and proclaims that the legalization of assisted suicide would undoubtedly lead to the deaths of patients against their wishes. Smith argues that the permitting of assisted suicide and euthanasia would lead to devastating consequences for societies most vulnerable and endorses the alternatives of hospice and care as more compassionate procedures. (Smith 1997)

Supporters of euthanasia use “right-to-die” as a significant defense. ‘Right-to-die’ supporters argue that people who have an incurable, degenerative, disabling or debilitating condition should be allowed to die in dignity. This argument is further defended for those, who have chronic debilitating illness even though it is not terminal such as severe mental illness. Many patients in a persistent