Assisted suicide

Kungfuzed said:

Who, in their right mind, would want to commit suicide?

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A person who has decided that his/her life provides more pain than pleasure.

Wouldn't every patient that asks for assisted suicide fail the evalutation? What respectable psychiatrist would wan't to be responsible for telling a patient it's ok to do it?

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The pyschiatrist wouldn't have to tell a patient that it's ok to commit suicide. He/she would merely have to certify that the patient was capable of underdstanding the consequences of commiting suicide. Patients in "their right mind" could be entirely capable of such an understanding.

Tigress said:

Perhaps it would be proper to have the patient undergo a psych evalutation prior to commitment, then?

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Absolutely!

Kungfuzed said:

Who, in their right mind, would want to commit suicide?

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A person in an extreme amount of pain may want to end their suffering, especially if their condition is fatal anyhow.--I find the notion that one must not be 'in their right mind' in order to consider ending their life to be absurd.

Wouldn't every patient that asks for assisted suicide fail the evalutation? What respectable psychiatrist would wan't to be responsible for telling a patient it's ok to do it?

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In my opinion, any truly respectable psychiatric professional would recognize the right of every person to do with his or her own body as they see fit, even if it is their job to discourage something like suicide.

What if the pain isn't physical? Like suppose a wealthy man suddenly looses everything in a stock market crash, or an 8th grader is getting teased and bullied and falls into depression? Should we be handing out suicide kits to prisoners who are having a hard time hanging themselves with their bedsheets?

To me, this isn't about the right to commit sucide. No one needs to be given that right since dead people are beyond the law. This is about the right to help someone commit suicide. It's a slippery slope because the person who wants to kill themself might feel differently if their pain were to end or if they got rehabilitated. I'd feel terrible if I helped a friend kill himself and then later found out the problem was only temporary or that a solution was found after the fact.

Kungfuzed said:

To me, this isn't about the right to commit sucide. No one needs to be given that right since dead people are beyond the law. This is about the right to help someone commit suicide.

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This is about people who are determined to commit suicide, one way or another. I think professionally assisted suicides offer them the most dignified way to do it. There could be a manditory waiting period between when people apply for the service, and when it is carried out, to give them a chance to think it over. I would like to have such a service available to me if and when I want it.

Kungfuzed said:

Should we be handing out suicide kits to prisoners who are having a hard time hanging themselves with their bedsheets?

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Yes we should.

mostly harmless said:

What are your thoughts on it?

If a person has a terminal illness and they want to die with dignity and with some semblance of control over their own fate, why is that wrong?

I, personally, am for a person's right to choose. Whether it is abortion or their right to die with dignity.

(for the record, I don't want this to be another abortion thread)

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It has to be decided on a case by case basis. Hospitals should employ professional ethics consultants if they do not already for this purpose.

I recently heard that depression associated with invasive cancer does not respond to anti-depressants and is thought to be a product of the cancer and the treatment for the cancer. Shouldn't we try to treat the depression and then if the person wants to have an assisted suicide, factor in their willingness to undergo treatment for the depression before committing to assist them in suicide.

This is just one aspect. I don't think you can legislate for this issue.

I see nothing wrong with euthenasia. After watching my grandmother suffer through alshimerz for the past 5 years and counting, my family has decided if anyone else gets it, they want to be killed before it has a chance to take thier memories.

Obviously. But in the case of assisted suicides, the death is more dignified and merciful.

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Let me tell you, I know I would feel so much better if I knew my grandfather was murdered by a doctor (screw the Hippocratic Oath!) than I feel about how he commited suicide himself because he couldn't afford treatment for his cancer and didn't want to be a burden on his family. I'm positive that if a doctor murdered him my father wouldn't have become an alcoholic (who went on to murder a little girl while driving drunk) and my grandmother would have kept her sanity.

Only not because... he's dead either way!

Suicide leaves too many messes no matter how it's done. Death is not dignified. The term "mercy killing" makes want to spit on whoever said it. People kill or support the killing of people like me, disabled people, because it's more of a "mercy" to let us die a "dignified death" than let us live our otherwise happy lives. Disabled and sick people would choose to die instead of live because they can't afford treatment that could manage their illness, can't pay for needed personal assistants and have to burden their family and friends with their care, or want to die instead of going to the disability gulag, institutions- 1.7 million people are trapped there today.

Oregons Death With Dignity Act
http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/pas/index.shtml


Here is what the Purposed Vermont DWDA proposes:

• A written witnessed request to the physician
• Request must be voluntary with no evidence of coercion
• A terminal diagnosis confirmed by two independent physicians, and, if recommended by either of them, an evaluation of mental competency by a mental health professional
• A 15-day waiting period prior to receiving the requested prescription
• Revocable by the patient at any time
• Medication would be prescribed by the doctor and self administered by the patient
• Voluntary on the part of the doctor
• No criminal liability for a physician, family member or caring friend who is present
• No effect on life insurance
• Monitoring by State Health Department

Source:
http://www.deathwithdignityvermont.org/

Mestemia said:

Oregons Death With Dignity Act
http://www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/pas/index.shtml


Here is what the Purposed Vermont DWDA proposes:

• A written witnessed request to the physician
• Request must be voluntary with no evidence of coercion
• A terminal diagnosis confirmed by two independent physicians, and, if recommended by either of them, an evaluation of mental competency by a mental health professional
• A 15-day waiting period prior to receiving the requested prescription
• Revocable by the patient at any time
• Medication would be prescribed by the doctor and self administered by the patient
• Voluntary on the part of the doctor
• No criminal liability for a physician, family member or caring friend who is present
• No effect on life insurance
• Monitoring by State Health Department

Source:
http://www.deathwithdignityvermont.org/

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The problem with this proposal is that is it restricted to people with terminal diagnoses. Assisted suicide whould be available to all adults who are mentally capable of understanding the consequences of their actions, regardless of physical health.

Bright-ness said:

I personally am willing to suffer pain or incapacity prior to death just for the economic reasons. If health care is covered, it would be to Gail's benefit to let me live, vegatative or not, to insure the retirement checks keep coming in. There is a house that will have crippling payments for her.

I used to think that I would have the suicide option but I realized in my case that would be selfish.

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That's what living wills are for.