Assisted suicide

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Assisted suicide is the process by which an individual, who may otherwise be incapable, is provided with the means (drugs or equipment) to commit suicide. It differs from euthanasia in that, in assisted suicide, the individual performs the critical action, whereas, in euthanasia, another person does it.

Contents 1 Legality 2 Aid in dying 3 References 4 External Links 5 See also

[edit] Legality

Assisted suicide is illegal in many legal jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom (where a bill to legalise it was voted down in 2008), but in others, eg, Belgium, Netherlands, Oregon (by the Oregon Death with Dignity Act), and Switzerland, there are circumstances in which it is permitted. It may or may not be required that the assistance is provided by a physician (physician-assisted suicide).

Under the "Death with Dignity" policy in Oregon, physicians repeatedly analyze, check over, and ask patients about their certainty to make such a life-changing decision on their own. Patients must have the ability to commit suicide themselves and must suffer from an illness that causes intolerable pain. Furthermore, the administration only permits patients who have six months or less to live to take lethal pills prescribed from their doctors.

The only state in the United States that permits physician-assisted suicide is Oregon.

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[edit] Aid in dying

Aid in Dying is the process by which a competent, terminally ill adult makes a request of his or her physician for a prescription for a lethal dose of medication that can then be taken when, and if, the patient so chooses, in order to end his or her intolerable suffering. The physician’s “aid” is limited to diagnosing the terminal illness, defined as an incurable and irreversible condition in which the patient’s probable life expectancy is six months or less. That diagnosis must then be confirmed by a second physician.

Under the law the primary physician must also counsel the patient on alternatives to a hastened death, including such options as pain management and palliative care, and then reconfirm that the patient’s request is a coherent and informed one at the time the prescription is written.

Aid in Dying has been a legal option in the State of Oregon (Oregon Death with Dignity Act) since 1997 and contains over a dozen safeguards intended to prevent abuse or misuse of the law. In addition to the safeguards mentioned above, should either physician have concerns about the patient’s ability to make an informed decision, or feel the patient’s request may be motivated by depression or coercion, the patient must be referred for a psychological evaluation.

Patients are required to make three requests for the medication, two of them orally separated by a minimum of fifteen days, and a third written request witnessed by two parties the patient personally knows, at least one of whom cannot be related by blood, marriage or adoption nor stand to gain financially from the patient’s death. In all there are over a dozen safeguards under the law.

Use of the law is voluntary and the patient must initiate the request. Any physician, pharmacist of healthcare provider opposed on moral grounds does not have to participate. As of 2007, a total of 341 Oregon patients used the law versus 98,942 patients who died during this same period from the same types of underlying diseases^[1]. The average patient age was 69, with 82 percent of those patients suffering from end stage cancers.

An independent study published in the October 2007 issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics reports there was "no evidence of heightened risk for the elderly, women, the uninsured, people with low educational status, the poor, the physically disabled or chronically ill, minors, people with psychiatric illnesses including depression, or racial or ethnic minorities, compared with background populations."^[2]

Aid in Dying differs from euthanasia, a procedure where the death is brought about by a third party, most often a physician and usually by lethal injection. With Aid in Dying the ultimate decision to take the medication remains with the patient at all times and a patient can rescind his or her request at any time.

Public opinion polls have consistently shown that over sixty percent of those surveyed support an individual’s right to make decisions about their own health care, including the decision to hasten their death when suffering from an incurable illness when symptoms cannot be effectively managed.

[edit] References

[edit] External Links

• Exit

[edit] See also

• Euthanasia - for a detailed discussion of ethical and legal issues
• Dignitas (euthanasia group).