Friday, October 30, 2009
Doctor's View of Euthansia
It is important to look at how physicians feel about active euthanasia simply due to the fact that they will be the ones with the ability to perform it if it does become legalized. A study was performed at the University Of Miami School Of Medicine to view the sentiments of medical students, physicians, and house staff about euthanasia. There were 360 persons involved in the story. The results of the study show that the majority of the participants were more willing to perform passive euthanasia and more against performing active euthanasia. Only a small percentage of 6% would be willing to administer a drug to end the life of a patient if they requested it. This may only be a small population of the many hospitals in the United States but the number presented in this study say a lot. I think that we should listen to doctor’s opinions when it comes to Euthanasia.
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You bring up a good point that the input of the doctor - who is the medical professional who approves or executes the act of euthanasia - should be brought into play in a decision on euthanasia.
ReplyDeleteYet, do you think that the patient's desire for death should override the physician's unwillingness to bring about the process? This is because the autonomy of deciding to end one's life still rests with the patient; the doctor can be thought to be merely the means by which this process can be medically, and perhaps legally, brought about.
The patient's autonomy is important but I don't think that a doctor should be forced to help kill their patients. From research that I have done shows that most doctors are against performing euthanasia because they believe that it goes against the Hippocratic Oath that they pledged to follow. Yet there are still doctors that believe that euthanasia does not fall under the "do no harm" rule and feel like they are helping their patient by assisting them to end their life. There are always going to be physicians that are for the act of euthanasia and those that are against it. Thank you for your comment nonlinearperspectives :)
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