Is Assisted Suicide Ethical?
More than 5.7 million people each year end up in intensive care units (ICUs) at hospitals due to a wide array of life-threatening issues. Some of these patients are in the ICUs to find comfort as they reach the near end of their lives. But some of them, like Paul, are too depressed to see the end of their lives and believe that they'd benefit more by ending their lives quicker using euthanasia. Euthanasia is defined by Merriam Webster as "the act or practice of killing or permitting the death of hopelessly sick or injured individuals (such as persons or domestic animals) in a relatively painless way for reasons of mercy". Euthanasia is synonymously called mercy killing or assisted suicide.
Paul asked his physician E. Wesley Ely "but can't you help me die, Doc?" after detrimentally facing lung fibrosis and pneumonia. He had no family nor friends that could comfort him through this difficult time, but he found joy in listening to Lord of the Rings' soundtracks. Dr. Ely did the best he could to help Paul find a way to cope, but he was dismayed in the debate over whether euthanasia was an appropriate outlet or not. He came to reflect upon the mercy killing that "'[euthanasia] would be a forced and unnatural 'false' mercy. Whenever possible, mercy must also be lifting and healing. I don't want to abandon those key elements in serving you.'" Dr. Ely argues that the request for euthanasia is driven by a lack of control on the patient's part, which can be a symptom from "emotional isolation and despair [that] can cast a shadow darker than disease." Dr. Ely chose not to participate in this assisted killing, after coming to a conclusion that "what we should be trying to heal is often not physical disease or clinical depression, but a person's sense of insignificance and hopelessness, which we cannot heal by eliminating the person" (click here to read the full article).
Do you agree with Dr. Ely's definition of mercy? If you happened to be a physician, would there be any circumstances in which you would allow euthanasia? Or do you think it is completely unethical? In Illinois, participating in an assisted suicide is considered a crime. On another note, how important is establishing an integral relationship between the physician and patient here? Dr. Ely came to reflect that "Paul reminded [him] that the best remedy for angst is human relationship and community." Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?
I really do like the quote from Dr. Ely, Sender., because I think it's true. But I also can easily imagine many scenarios when assisted suicides seems reasonable - even ethical. This might be an interesting junior theme topic!
ReplyDeleteInteresting post sender! I never before considered that euthanasia may be a symptom of a sense of loneliness. I think that in this case, I would mostly agree with Dr. Ely— my only reason being because paul is alone. I think that as Dr. Ely said, a doctors responsibility lies not only in curing or treating a patient of a disease but also healing a sense of hopelessness when faced with a chronic condition. If another patient was facing a condition like paul, but instead was surrounded by love and support from family and friends, and the patient still felt that it was time for his or her life to come to an end, I would support that patient as a hypothetical physician. Ultimately, I believe that it is a patient‘s decicision to end their life if they feel that they have obtained closure with the circumstance. During end of life, people are forced to accept the path their life took, and are forced to find the good and meaning in their life. When their is nothing but pain in their future, and it is believed that no good will come to them by continuing to leave, I feel that it is best to leave them when they are content with the end of their life. At this point, it is the family and the patient’s discretion, a position that for the most part, a physician cannot take on in their usual limited relationship with a patient. The case between Paul and Dr. Ely is different, as it seems as though Dr. Ely may be the only person left in Paul’s life, almost acting as his physician and familial figure in helping him decide on matters such as the end of his life.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dr. Ely's decision, being that his patient's case involved solidarity and other issues rather than just a medical problem. The driving factor behind wanting to end your life should not be based on your emotional state or angst, because emotions can change and situations can be fixed. However, I do believe that there are some cases, such as life threatening illnesses, that could justify an ethical assisted suicide. In terminal situations without a solution there could be a reason for assisted suicide.
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