Chronic Physical Pain The Terminally Ill Patients example essay topic

Question: How would you like to die? Allow me to draw a scenario for you- a beautiful cabin in an unpopulated countryside which you and your significant other have been sharing for the most beautiful last years of your life. You spent the morning taking a memorable walk by the lake. Your children have decided to visit you, and you played with your grandchildren, letting their rolling laughter soothe you. You " re self-sufficient, your life has been successful, and your children are grown and loving.

You can ask for nothing more. Bathed in perfect happiness, you will peacefully slip away into the afterlife gently during your sleep. If only. According to studies, 80% of chronically-ill seniors (aged 65+) die institutionalized in hospitals or long-term care facilities (Valente). Fully two-thirds of that population suffering from both age-related and unnatural disorders is not referred to palliative care soon enough to receive proper care in their last days. As a result, approximately 82% of them suffer unnecessary pain in their last 24 hours, and severely suffering patients typically spend their last eight days in the Intensive Care Unit, plugged with countless tubes, and in extreme cases, either comatose or on ventilators (Valente).

Not quite the picturesque end many people picture for themselves. However horrible the information above sounds, there is something still worse than dying in excruciating pain, hospitalized and surrounded by unfamiliar hospital personnel when you want to live: dying under the same circumstances when you want to die. When a person is terminally ill (medically diagnosed to die within six months), and will inevitably deteriorate in mental and physical health to a state where the quality of their lives will seem to be worse than death, it makes no sense for the law to force them to live through unnecessary and excruciating pain: they should be given the option of active euthanasia. Euthanasia is "the intentional termination of a life by another at the explicit request of the person who dies", - the aided suicide of a terminally ill patient by qualified physicians under carefully supervised circumstances (Robinson).

The world "euthanasia" comes from the Greek words "eu" meaning "good", and "thanatos" meaning "death". As the origins of the word itself suggests, euthanasia gives terminally ill people the chance to die a good death, surrounded by loved ones who can remember the patient in his / her best health before slipping peacefully into death as opposed to the unexpected, sudden death in either extreme pain or drugged stupor, both cases in which the patient, if lucky enough to be with family members, usually isn't conscious enough to say his / her last words. There are two types of euthanasia: active and passive. Active euthanasia is where the patient is put to death by a direct action of the physician.

Passive euthanasia is where vital ities of a terminally ill patient, such as feeding tubes, are removed from the patient. In active euthanasia, something is done to end the patient's life whereas in passive euthanasia, some is not done to keep the patient alive. A different form of active euthanasia, Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS), is where the physician provides the means for suicide, but does not administer it. Strangely enough, passive euthanasia in the form of terminal sedation and dehydration, where patients stop eating and drinking or have their feeding tubes removed while being given sedatives to keep them from feeling the side effects, is legal in all fifty states. On the other hand, active euthanasia is legal only in the state of Oregon (Marker) where 170 terminally ill patients have opted euthanasia since the law was established in 1998 (Court).

The ratification of the law brought about much controversy, touching every corner or ethics, religion and medical issues. Apparently, not preventing death is moral whereas causing death is immoral. Just a little joke to give you a better picture- "It's like the old joke about the child who says to his teacher, "Do you think it's right to punish someone for something that he didn't do?"Why, of course not", the teacher replies. "Good", the child says, "because I didn't do my homework".

("Types") Opponents of euthanasia, both active and passive, have justifiable but rather insubstantial concerns: If euthanasia were to be legalized, patients could be more inclined to choose death earlier than is necessary; Pain can be alleviated through medication; Euthanasia would lessen decrease the utilization of hospice, and euthanasia would be playing God and against many religious beliefs (Should). First of all, only a small percentage of terminally ill patients want to die- in fact, although 60% of them support euthanasia as a reassuring last resort they know they have, only 11% would consider it for themselves (Study). "Nobody wants to die. The experience in Oregon has demonstrated that the terminally ill people, who sought help from a physician to hasten their deaths, did so while fighting to make the most of every day. If an extended recovery were possible, that individual would not even think of using the law, as they would want to make the most of the time they " ve been given. People in extreme situations for whom recovery is no longer possible use the law as a last resort when each day becomes more and more unbearable".

(Fact) In addition, no patient, however undereducated, poor, or uninsured is encouraged to choose euthanasia. No patients want to die and leave their loved ones; but no patients want to drain all their assets on useless medication and hospital care bills- they want to leave as much as they can for people whom they love. Terminally ill patients worry about the financial and emotional burden they will be to their loved ones. If the patients want to live a little longer, and are willing to go into debt to elongate their lives, nobody is stopping them. However, it is senseless to force patients to pay thousands of dollars they'd much rather save for their loved ones. It is also important to note that euthanasia is aided suicide.

Suicide is not considered a criminal offense. Anyone, not just those that are terminally ill, have the right to end his / her life although it is discouraged. Nothing prevents those in severe pain to not consider suicide attempts alone. "! |which is better-controlled, compassionate doctor-assisted suicide or clumsy attempts like taking sleeping pills, jumping off a building, or firing a bullet into one's head?" (Should) Another popular argument against euthanasia is that any sort of pain, however severe, can be alleviated through today's medical advancements- there is no need to leave the patients in pain and make them wish for death. However, this is untrue as even the strongest opponents of euthanasia admit that at least 5% of terminally ill patients will not be able to alleviate their pains through any kind of medication. The remaining 95% aren't guaranteed proper pain-killing medication because of lack of money or resources (Fact). Inserting one more tube, giving one more pill, and forcing suffering patients to breathe another day against their wishes will not ensure their unnecessarily and painfully elongated life to be of good quality.

Also, it isn't simply chronic physical pain the terminally ill patients go through; being in a terminal state has immense psychological effects as well. Terminally ill patients know their days are numbered, and they also know that their pain will become worse as their bodies deteriorate. They also lose their independence and cannot perform daily living functions (Robinson). This causes them to feel a sense of helplessness and loss of dignity, which they'd much rather do without. They want their loved ones to remember them the way they were when they were physically and mentally fit, not sick in bed, unconscious and drooling or excreting without control. Anti-euthanasia groups are also afraid that hospice- "A program that provides palliative care and attends to the emotional and spiritual needs of terminally ill patients at an inpatient facility or at the patient's home".

(Hospice) - utilization will decrease, resulting in worse care for the terminally ill. Contrary to that belief, the hospice utilization rate for Oregon after euthanasia became legalized increased 32%- the highest percentage in the entire country (Fact). The legalization of euthanasia will not only improve hospice care, but general hospital care and economics of the country. It sounds inhumane to measure a person's life in dollars, but keeping terminally ill patients alive cost from $50,000 to $100,000 (Should) whereas lethal prescriptions cost merely $35 to $45 (Health). Saving the extra millions could result in better pay for nurses and doctors and lower insurance premiums. Euthanasia could also free nurses busy with terminally ill patients to take care of savable patients.

There is also the ever-popular opinion that doctors are trying to play God by handling the death of a person, whose life is sacred and God-given. Death is a process that human beings should not temper with, and euthanasia is doing just that. This is a matter of personal opinion: if you believe that euthanasia is a sin, do not opt it for yourself, but do not fight against the right a human being has to end his life if he wishes. If you believe aiding a person in excruciating pain to end his suffering is immoral, that's your business.

Aren't doctors also "playing God" when they forcefully elongate patients' lives through countless medicines and injections? Since life and death are both "properties" of God, why not protest medicine and any form of cure all over the world? Medication, through elongating a person's life, is tempering with life, isn't it? Euthanasia, passive or active, is not murder; it's the alleviation of never-ending, extreme physical and mental pain a person has to go through.

It's immoral to torture a person, so why torture a patient by forcing him to live? Terminal sedation and dehydration is legal in all fifty states. It seems that in the eyes of our government, two weeks of voluntary starvation where doctors give patients enough sedatives to remove both the side-effects of malnutrition and the patients' consciousness is legal and moral, whereas slipping off into peaceful, painless death in a few minutes' time surrounded by loved ones is not. Think of the pain and suffering terminally ill patients could be saved from if they were allowed to choose euthanasia.

Think of the goodbyes that could be said to loved ones. Think of the full acceptance and preparation for death the patients could have when they are ready to pass on. The picturesque passing I mentioned in the introduction could become possible for terminally ill patients if euthanasia were to be legalized. The patients can wait as long as they want to, enjoy what quality time they have left, and go in peace, surrounded by family members, bathed in love. Think for a moment that you are terminally ill.

You have a choice: to either die a death in excruciating pain, losing consciousness and not recognizing your family members, or enjoying what precious time and health you have left to the fullest and accepting your fate when you " re ready, saying goodbyes to your loved ones, and slipping away in peace? Which would you prefer?