Essay Example: Arguments Against Assisted Suicide

Assisted suicide is one of the highly controversial debates held among physicians and lawmakers of different nations across the globe. Some medical institutions, non-governmental health organizations, human rights commissions and the religious societies have argued reasons explaining their positions, but the bottom line is that the matter remains controversial. Logically, it is unethical to end an individual life as it is against their God-given right to live. Its preferable for one to commit suicide for unknown reasons rather than playing a role in it. Assisted suicide is unlawful and explains the degree of rot in the society. Notably, for physicians, circumstances may be different as there is a specific scenario where they are professionally advised to take life with a motive of helping the patient and family and not to fulfill their interest. This paper, therefore, outlines and explains reasons against assisted suicide with particular reference to medical ethics, logic, and laws regulating physicians.

Arguments against Assisted Suicide

Terminally ill individuals get well and recover fully

Every trained and competent physician knows and understands that medicine is not just an art but science as well. For this reason, no one may predict with exact precision whether one will die or live. In every single hospital, a worker testifies of circumstances where one who was dying survived and recovered fully. Although this is a rare circumstance, medical ethics provides an opportunity for one to live and have a chance to experience natural death. The act of doctors to withdraw hope and offer suicide denies patients the right to life hence unacceptable.

Doctors make medical mistakes

In the process of diagnosis, doctors in rare circumstances end up making medical errors or misdiagnosis. According to American Medical Association, medical errors are the third cause of death in the United States. Practically, the supreme court of Mississippi once upheld an award of $4million to a family a patient misdiagnosed with cancer. It is just one of the single scenario among the many unidentified mistakes doctors have made. Mistakes happen and at times may not be prevented because of our human nature, but why should assist suicide authorized? It is unethical and unlawful hence unacceptable.

Assisted suicide is a killer to medical research

Medicine is an art, and a science implies the fact that lots of research are critical for it to withstand challenges. In a circumstance where HIV or Cancer patients are assisted in committing suicide, the efforts placed in determining therapeutic drugs against them are challenged. For future of medical research and advancement in the field of medicine, assisted death should not be supported by the medics.

American Medical Association: Assisted suicide results to more harm than good

Doctor-assisted suicide is primarily incompatible with their responsibilities as healers, hence likely to cause high societal risks. Physicians are to respond to the needs of the patients until the end of their life. Abandoning of patients is medically unethical hence multidisciplinary interventions must be sought. Family counseling, hospice care, consultation and other modalities ought to be considered. The association provides that, emotional support, pain control, respect and comfort care should be considered as that is what medical ethics requires instead of causing harm.

It is a violation of the American Nurse Association ethics

Humans, the sick and dying have dignity, and that must be respected. The American Nurse Association holds that no nurse should be engaged in assisted suicide practice as it violates their code of conduct and professionalism. They assert that nurses must provide care and relieve pain to enable patients to live comfortably till their last day.

In conclusion, assisted suicide increases deaths among the teens, endangers the poor, weak and vulnerable in the society, deny individuals a chance to experience natural death and above all to make final pronunciations which are critical in court cases.

Bibliography

Dyer, Owen, Caroline White, and Aser Garcia Rada. "Assisted dying: law and practice around the world." BMJ 351 (2015): h4481.

Ganzini, Linda, et al. "Physicians' experiences with the Oregon death with dignity act." New England Journal of Medicine 342.8 (2000): 557-563.

Pattinson, Shaun D. Medical law & ethics. Vol. 30. London: Sweet & Maxwell, 2006.