Doctor-Assisted Suicide, Reaction Paper Example

Doctor-assisted suicide remains one of the most controversial and emotionally difficult issues that faces the modern healthcare professional. This paper explores the potential crisis that assisted suicide could precipitate in the hospice community, as well as concerns about the misuse of assisted suicide and  the prevailing legal and moral attitudes towards this sensitive topic.

Assisted Suicide and its Effects on the Hospice/Palliative Care Community

Surprisingly, there have not been many conversations about the effect that the new assisted suicide laws, such as those in Washington and Oregon, will have on the hospice/palliative care community.  The fact is, though, that the effect could be profound, since hospice is one of the branches of medicine which deals most intimately with the needs of the dying patient.  According to statistics from 2012, in fact, of the 160 patients who utilized the Death with Dignity law in Oregon, 90% were enrolled in hospice at the time (O’Reilly, 2013, p.1).  This poses a huge ethical dilemma in the palliative care community as they deal with the moral issues surrounding letting patients die naturally and with dignity as opposed to any artificial hastening of death of extension of life by extraordinary means. The rifts in this community are already showing: according to one study done of hospices in Washington State after the enactment of doctor-assisted suicide laws in 2008, 21% of hospices were opposed to it and did not allow there staff to assist or inform the patient about this option, while 54% took an attitude of neutral “non-interference” towards this issue and another 24% supported it as part of the patient’s choice (O’Reilly, 2013, p. 1).  These numbers by themselves show how divisive this issue has been in a branch of nursing which already deals with extremely high-pressure emotional situations.

My Feelings about Doctor-Assisted Suicide

My biggest concern in regards to doctor-assisted suicide, particularly in the hospice setting, is it potential for abuse.  I have had hospice experience and have seen children and grandchildren arguing over money, the house, and Grandma’s china set while Grandma was still in the bed, actively dying.  Listening to arguments like that, especially when you hear them many times from many families, is a good way to lose faith in human nature or in the idea that families will want what is best for their dying elder.  The sad fact is that we do not value the aging in our society, and greed is a powerful motive for many people in the materialistic world we live in.  Assisted suicide has the potential to be abused in situations like these, mostly for the convenience of the family rather than out of any concern for the dying patient.

Laws and Attitudes about Assisted Suicide

In many ways, the assisted suicide movement is, indeed, gaining traction.  When Oregon enacted its Death with Dignity laws back in 1997, it caused a huge stir because at the time it was the only state to have done so.  As of 2014, however, 5 states – Oregon, Washington, Montana, New Mexico and Vermont – have enacted these laws and similar legislation was only narrowly defeated in Massachusetts and this year, Connecticut and several other states will take up in the issue (Eckholm, 2014, p.1).  However, there is still a great deal of opposition to these measures and both the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and the American Medical Association itself have come out as opposed to doctor-assisted suicide, the latter making the argument that such laws are “fundamentally inconsistent with the physician’s role as a healer” (O’Reilly, 2013, p. 1).   This clearly shows the deep divisions this issue has caused in recent years, both inside and outside the medical community.

References

Eckholm, E. (2014). “Assisted Suicide Now Legal in 5 States”.  News Telegram Online. Web. 15 June 2014.

O’Reilly, K. (2013).  “Doctor-Assisted Suicide Laws Post Hospice Care Dilemma”. American Medical Association’s AMed News Online.  Web. 15 June 2014.