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Samveda Ruk

Ms. Gardner

English 10 Honors

9 May 2017

Give Patients the Liberty to Embrace Death

The Hippocratic Oath, by Hippocrates, a Greek physician and the Father of Medicine,

states: "I will give no deadly medicine to anyone if asked, nor suggest any such counsel".

Assisted suicide contradicts this oath, as it is when a patient with an incurable disease chooses to

end their life by taking lethal drugs provided by a doctor. Just as people are granted with the

right to life, the right to marry, and the right to liberty, patients with untreatable diseases should

be granted the right to choose to die if they are capable of making this decision. So far, only five

states and the District Of Columbia have legalized assisted suicide, and forty-four states consider

assisted suicide illegal(State-by-State Guide to Physician-Assisted Suicide). Although assisted

suicide may pose ethical and safety concerns, it allows terminally ill patients or those in great

pain to pass away surrounded by their loved ones in a planned and painless manner, it would be a

more economical option for the people and government of the United States, and vital organs can

be collected.

Albeit, the fatal drugs used in assisted suicide can be abused, such as non-critical patient

suicides, and they may be used prematurally, as sudden recoveries are rare, but possible.

However, these cases will be rare, and there are many terminally ill patients suffering who

should have the right to choose to end their suffering with dignity. John C. Goodman, author of A

Better Choice: Healthcare Solutions for America, notes about 70% of death in the United States
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occur in hospitals, nursing homes and hospice facilities. He also spotlights Scott Alexanders,

from Slate Star Codex, description of dying patients: "Old, limbless, bedridden, ulcerated, in a

puddle of waste, gasping for breath, loopy on morphine, hopelessly demented in a sterile hospital

room (Goodman). With assisted suicide, these patients can end their pain safely, rather than

committing suicide in painful ways or asking a family member to end their life, which would

result in unfair legal charges. Heather Pratten recounts how her son, Nigel, was diagnosed with

Huntington's disease, and he requested her to help him die for his birthday. Nigel overdosed,

went unconscious, and his mother suffocated him with a pillow. She was first charged with

murder, but then changed to aiding and abetting a suicide, and received a conditional discharge

(Heather Pratten). Assisted suicide should be legalized throughout the United States to prevent

heartbreaking cases like a mother being forced to kill her own child, so there will be legal and

safe options to end ones life.

Also, assisted suicide enables health care to be more economically practical, for both the

US government and the families of the terminally ill patients. First, medical workers caring for

terminally ill patients could spend less time caring for those who do not want their help, and

more time helping savable patients. Rebecca Grant from The Atlantic, outlines the issue with the

national nursing shortage, due to an aging population, the rising incidence of chronic disease, an

aging nursing workforce, and the limited capacity of nursing schoolsthis shortage is on the

cusp of becoming a crisis, one with worrying implications for patients and health-care providers

alike (Goodman). Dr. Pamela Cipriano, 35th president of the American Nurses Association,

explains the American Nurses Association is currently lobbying Congress to increase funding

for Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act in order to fund education systems that create
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nurses (Goodman). If the US legalized assisted suicide nationwide, then the health care workers

would not have to spend as much time with terminally ill patients who want to end their

suffering, and could redirect their focus to savable patients. In 2010, Medicare paid $55 billion

for doctor and hospital bills during the last two months of patients' lives, and about 20 to 30

percent of these medical expenses may have had no meaningful impact. Also, it is about $10,000

a day to maintain someone in the intensive care unit (Meyer). The drug used in assisted suicide,

Seconal, is around $3,000, which is a much more economical option (Meyer). All in all, assisted

suicide is a more affordable option for the US government and the families of terminally

patients.

Furthermore, vital organs can be collected after patients undergo assisted suicide.

According to the American Transplant Foundation, 120,000 people in the US are waiting for a

lifesaving organ transplant, and as a result 22 people die everyday from the lack of organs

available to transplant (Facts and Myths about Transplant.). In places where assisted suicide

and euthanasia, where physician is allowed to administer lethal drugs or vaccines themselves,

rather than just providing drugs that the patient can take, vital organs have been successfully

collected and transplanted. In Belgium, a 44-year-old woman requested to be euthanized after a

brain stem vascular accident, and her liver and both kidneys were removed. They were

successfully transplanted into three different people, which saved their lives (ESOT | ESOT).

Clearly, assisted suicide not only grants terminally patients the death they want, it gives life to

other people who are desperately waiting for an organ transplant.

On the contrary, some people may argue assisted suicide prohibits the possibility of a

unexplainable recovery, and that some patients who request assisted suicide are not competent
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enough to do so. All of us in the practice of cancer care have seen patients, diagnosed with

so-called terminal illness, points out Philip B. Dreisbach, director of the Desert Hematology

Oncology Medical Group at the Eisenhower Medical Center, who have experienced a

marvelous remission of disease. Very little is absolute -- except death itself (Dreisbach). These

recoveries may be possible, but they are not guaranteed in the case of terminally ill patients, and

it is unfair to force these patients continue their unbearable suffering because there is a slim

chance they may suddenly recover. The patient should be able to decide if they want to continue

fighting or if they want to pass away using assisted suicide. Patients seeking lethal medications

under the law must have two physicians determine that they are mentally competent and

terminally ill, explains Soumya Karlamangla, from the LA Times, If a physician has questions

about a patient's mental state, the patient must be referred to a psychiatrist for an evaluation. In

Oregon, 5% of the patients who underwent assisted suicide were referred to psychiatrists

beforehand. However, this does not mean the terminally ill patients who were referred did not

have the right to request assisted suicide. If they were suffering physically, they should still be

entitled to assisted suicide, as they are also suffering mentally, and the psychiatrists could not

help them.

In conclusion, assisted suicide has many benefits: It allows patients to die peacefully,

health care can improve because assisted suicide has economical assets, and the amount of vital

organs available will increase, and therefore save more lives. The right to die how one wishes

should be granted to all terminally ill patients. This choice is one of the most important decisions

of their life, and with proper regulation, can empower patients across the nation.
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Works Cited

ESOT | ESOT. ESOT | ESOT, www.esot.org/. Accessed 5 May 2017.

16, 2010 Richard Meyer | Physician | December, et al. The cost of keeping the

terminally ill alive. KevinMD.com, 25 July 2011,

www.kevinmd.com/blog/2010/12/cost-keeping-terminally-ill-alive.html. Accessed 5 May

2017.

Dembosky, April. Drug Company Jacks Up Cost Of Aid-In-Dying Medication. NPR, NPR, 23

Mar. 2016,

www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/03/23/471595323/drug-company-jacks-up-cost-

of-aid-in-dying-medication. Accessed 5 May 2017.

Dreisbach, Philip B. &quot;Why are they Trying to make Us Kill our Patients?&quot;<i> Wall

Street Journal</i>, 25 Jul, 2016, pp. A.11<i>, SIRS Issues Researcher</i>, <a

href="https://sks.sirs.com" target="_blank">https://sks.sirs.com</a>.

Goodman, John C. &quot;California's New Law Advances the Right to Die with
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Dignity.&quot;<i> McClatchy - Tribune News Service</i>, 15 Oct, 2015<i>, SIRS

Issues Researcher</i>, <a href="https://sks.sirs.com"

target="_blank">https://sks.sirs.com</a>.

Facts and Myths about Transplant. American Transplant Foundation,

www.americantransplantfoundation.org/about-transplant/facts-and-myths/. Accessed 5

May 2017.

Grant, Rebecca. The U.S. Is Running Out of Nurses. The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 3

Feb. 2016, www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/02/nursing-shortage/459741/.

Accessed 5 May 2017.

Heather Pratten. Dignity in Dying, www.dignityindying.org.uk/story/heather-pratten/.

Accessed 5 May 2017.

Karlamangla, Soumya. &quot;Groups Sue to Repeal End of Life Act.&quot;<i> Los Angeles

Times</i>, 10 Jun, 2016, pp. B.4<i>, SIRS Issues Researcher</i>, <a

href="https://sks.sirs.com" target="_blank">https://sks.sirs.com</a>.

State-by-State Guide to Physician-Assisted Suicide - Euthanasia - ProCon.Org. Should

euthanasia or physician-Assisted suicide be legal?,

euthanasia.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000132. Accessed 3 May 2017.