Physician-assisted suicide currently exists in spite of it's unsanctioned status. Requests for assisted suicide and euthanasia are made and doctors comply. The debate for and against assisted suicide includes ethical and legal aspects, and perceived rights and duties of the doctor, nurse, and patient. Additionally, conflict involves moral, political, social, cultural, economic, and practical administrative issues. Relevant ethical theories help participants arrive at individual conclusions.
Ethical & Legal Aspects; Rights & Duties
Studies show that patient requests for physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia are common. Back, Wallace, Starks, and Pearlman (1996) reported the results of their study regarding assisted suicide and euthanasia in Washington State. During the past year, 12 percent of responding physicians reported one or more requests for physician-assisted suicide and 4 percent received one or more request for euthanasia. Although these practices are currently illegal in Washington State, physicians occasionally comply. Of the 156 patients who requested physician-assisted suicide, 38 (24 percent) received prescriptions, and 21 died. Of the 58 patients requesting euthanasia, 14 (24 percent) received parenteral medication and died. In a study of a group of physicians caring for HIV patients, acceptance of assisted suicide was found to increase between 1990 and 1995 (Slome, Mitchell, Charlebois, Benevedes, & Abrams, 1997).
One of the most important ethical principles in medicine is respect for the patient's autonomy. This principle is incorporated in laws governing medical practice and research. The requirement of informed consent to any treatment is an example of this principle; patients exercise this right when they ask to have life-sustaining treatment to be withdrawn. If the patient is mentally competent, the physician is bound to honor the request (Angell, 1997).
In 1994 Oregon became the f...