Understanding Death With Dignity Pros And Cons

By Tammie Caldwell


Euthanasia is a controversial topic in the media at this time. It is subject to extreme argument, which is then presented by the media. Sometimes, individual cases go to court, where a medical practitioner is typically charged with something. This issue requires proper attention, and for more than one reason. Part of understanding it is knowing the death with dignity pros and cons.

Modern medicine has made the treatment of terminally ill patients possible to such a degree that they sometimes spend months or even years in prolonged care. Previously, these patients would not have survived their conditions for that span of time. Yet they remain alive until, eventually, their death is imminent and no treatment can delay it. At such times, they may consider euthanasia, or mercy killing/death.

The concept of euthanasia is self-explanatory and has been practised since time immemorial. Mercy killing, or the deliberate infliction of death on hopelessly sick or injured patients is easy to understand. It is also practised by soldiers after a battle. Medical patients, too, sometimes abandon their ineffective treatment regimen and resort to suicide. None of this is recent in its presence in society.

Despite this, the law in most countries does not give medical staff permission to terminate their patients. The rationale behind such laws is self-explanatory. Medical staff cannot be permitted to euthanase patients under their care because they may then terminate those who may well have survived, for whatever reason. The court cases that arise typically revolve around medical personnel who either apply for official permission to euthanase a patient or who have already performed the procedure and are being prosecuted.

One notable recent case concerned Dr Harold Shipman, in the UK. He secretly killed 285 aged patients, without their (or anyone else's) knowledge or even consent. His method was poisoning. Legalizing euthanasia may then encourage medical practitioners with such designs to murder their patients. Shipman was sentenced to jail, where he ended his own life on his 58th birthday.

At present, modern medicine uses lethal injection to conduct euthanasia. This is, of course, also used to execute capital prisoners. The substances used during the procedure are not publicly available and should only be administered by a medical practitioner, since the incorrect dosage of what are sometimes medicinal substances can be fatal in those who are using them for other purposes.

Some patients suffer extreme pain on an everyday basis or they are so incapacitated that they lose enthusiasm for future palliative care. They sometimes resort to less conventional methods, such as self-medicating with illegal street drugs, or they commit suicide through the more common ways. But if they are not able to commit suicide, they ask their treating practitioner to end their lives.

As the debate around euthanasia continues to rage in the media and other public platforms, terminally ill patients continue to commit suicide or apply for permission to be euthanazed. Legislation needs to regulate medical practise, but the inordinate suffering of terminal patients is also a significant factor in society and in how they are treated, one that is possibly more important than the legislation itself in some cases.




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