Week 3 Topic: “Euthanasia” Read chapter eight of your text and do research on eu

Week 3 Topic:
“Euthanasia”
Read chapter eight of your text and do research on euthanasia in two or three additional sources.
What are the ethical issues involved?
How does “quality of life” and “sanctity of life” issues relate to euthanasia?
What is your position on “active euthanasia” and “passive euthanasia”?
What are the ethics of pain management and how is it related to euthanasia?
respond to two peers
Peers 1 Good afternoon fellow classmates and Dr. Wellman!This week is a discussion about euthanasia, a very sensitive topic to anyone that has witnessed a loved one choose to exercise this option or had to assist a patient who followed through with the decision of utilizing this right as a human being. Euthanasia is the process in which, through the use or abstention of clinical measures, the death of a patient in an incurable or terminal condition can be hastened to avoid excessive suffering (Picon-Jaimes et al, 2022).The idea is that it is permissible, at least in some cases, to withhold treatment and allow a patient to die, but it is never permissible to take any direct action designed to kill the patient (Rachels, 1975). This is the ethical issue in participating in the act of euthanasia altogether that is debated. Passive euthanasia is a preferrable method for some physicians to partake in; moreover, active euthanasia would seem to be against the oath they took as physicians, which is why some would rather not treat the terminally ill at all. My take on active vs. passive euthanasia is neither here nor there. It should never be an ethical issue if the patient is requesting this be done freely. There are so many people that are involved in the process, not just the patient. This is why it is very important to have a living will that states what exactly you, as the patient, would wish for for your end-of-life care; make sure to include your idea of what quality of life is considered acceptible, as everyone’s perspective is different. When that time should come and you are not able to make sound decisions, at least the medical staff and family members would know what you would want done.When there is no living will available, it is not such an easy decision to make when trying to decide what to do in unforeseeable circumstances of a patient’s care. So many factors influence the decisions that are made by loved ones and the medical staff responsible for carrying out the patient’s care, such as roles, limited resources and policies. One of the best resources that is available in hard decisions is a bioethicist. Leming & Dickinson (2021) explains that bioethicists are called on for their philosophical and legal expertise to help with difficult decisions about medical treatments and end-of-life care; this medical consultant meets privately with the patient, family, and medical staff to collect facts and beliefs about the patient’s illness and wishes and to discuss how each individual sees the situation. I think that this professional is extremely beneficial because lack of communication amongst all involved is the worst way to make such a devastating decision. Word Count 450 References:Leming, M.R. & Dickinson, G.E.. (2021). Understanding Dying, Death, & Bereavement (9th Ed). Cengage Learning.Picon-Jaimes, Y.A., Lozada-Martinez, I.D., Orozco-Chinome, J.E., Montana-Gomez, L.M., Bolano-Romero, M.P., Moscote-Salazar, L.R., Janjua, T., & Rahman, S.. (2022). Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide: An in-depth review of relevant historical aspectsRachels, J.. (1975). Active and Passive Euthanasia. The New England Journal of Medicine, volume 292, pg 77.
peers 2 Hello Class,People at the end-of-life stage, physicians, and family all have difficult choices to make when you talk about ending that person’s life. There are ethical and moral decisions that will need to be made, and trying to get all three parties, or more, need to figure out what best suits the patient. As the book points out, euthanasia means something different to everyone; however, the end result is the same. There is the argument that any assistance to help a terminal patient end their life early is murder. Even if the patient is trying to make that choice, to live comfortably for their last days. Doctors are charged with keeping people alive, as stated (Leming & Dickinson, 2019), they are in the business of not letting you die and to do anything to keep a person alive. This includes using technology such as life support to keep that person alive, possibly against the patient’s wishes. They are preserving the sanctity of life, the divine gift of life as the book puts it.From another perspective is the Quality-of-Life view. This states that when a person’s life is below a certain quality, a patient may prefer death (Leming & Dickinson, 2019). The argument is made about who gets to say what quality of life is for an individual. Should it be any impairment a patient has, is losing a leg the end of a person’s meaning, their identity? This has made me think in depth about getting an advanced directive in place. My opinion in this matter is that it is up to the individual to say at what point does the patient want to be relieved of a pain, an altered life, or not wanting to burden on others? There is a standard of living that people should be allowed to choose death instead of prolonged life. In my case, any situation where I am being kept alive purely by life support, is not living. I feel that this stops other people in my life from moving through the stages of grief. How can we expect them to move on when they have basically a “stuffed” version of you, a “living” corpse.On the points of pain management and how it would relate to either an active or passive euthanasia is also something to consider. Similar to what I stated earlier, passive euthanasia would be to stop giving lifesaving treatments, no life support, a DNR, a way to let a person go. Active euthanasia is different as I believe that a person has the right to elect such an action. It must be the patient, and patient alone that should make this type of call. They should be coherent, even if in pain, to make the decision. This goes back to a quality-of-life decision. Do you want to live in pain, or live a shorter life in comfort? In my mind, living a life free of pain, to be able to enjoy what time you have left is more important to me. If active euthanasia is decided by any person other than the patient, you run the risk of the slippery slope argument. When is it too early for another to help one die, why do they get to decide?WC 554Leming, M. R., & Dickinson, G. E. (2019). “Understanding Dying, Death, and Bereavement”. Boston: Cenage.