Ethical and Legal Aspects of Health and Social Care.

Authors Avatar

Samantha Sharp                                                                                                                             Unit 23 Coursework

Ethical and Legal Aspects of Health and Social Care

Euthanasia

E1 & E2

Euthanasia is the deliberate killing of a person for the benefit of that person. Euthanasia is a controversial issue therefore holds the argument of whether the choice of death should be permitted or not. Euthanasia has become increasingly contentious as the generations move on due to medical and scientific advances continuing to transform and extend life. In most cases euthanasia is carried out because the person who dies asks for it, but there are cases called euthanasia where a person can’t make such a request. A person who undergoes euthanasia is usually terminally ill, but there are some situations where people want euthanasia.

Forms of Euthanasia

Euthanasia comes in different forms; each brings a different set of rights and wrongs.

Active and Passive Euthanasia: Active euthanasia is when death is brought about by an act – for example when a person is killed by an overdose of painkillers, “many doctors would argue that there reaches a point in the care of a patient where aggressive medical treatment is no longer of any benefit”. Passive euthanasia is when death is brought about through omission, when someone lets a person die. This can be by withdrawing or withholding treatment. An example of withdrawing treatment would be to switch off a machine that is keeping a person alive so that they die of their disease. An example of withholding treatment would be not carrying out surgery that will extend life for a short time. Traditionally, passive euthanasia is thought of as less bad then active euthanasia. But some people think that active euthanasia is morally better.

Voluntary and Involuntary Euthanasia: Voluntary Euthanasia occurs at the request of the person who dies. Non – voluntary euthanasia occurs when a person is unconscious or otherwise unable to make the decision for example a small child, so an appropriate person takes the decision on their behalf. Involuntary euthanasia is when the person who dies chooses life and is killed anyway. This is usually classed as murder, it could be said the killing was for the benefit of the person.

Indirect euthanasia: this means providing treatment that has a side effect of speeding up the patients death this is usually used to reduce pain. As the intention is not to kill but to reduce pain this is seen as morally right. (-Principle of double effect)

Assisted suicide: this usually refers to cases where the person who is going to die needs help to kill themselves, this can be as easy as putting drugs in the persons reach.

 

The Ethics of Euthanasia

Euthanasia is a controversial issue and therefore it raises some questions, for example

  • Is it ever right for another person to end the life of a terminally ill patient who is in severe pain or enduring other suffering?
  • If euthanasia is sometimes right, under what circumstances is it right?
  • Is there any moral difference between killing someone and letting them die?

The main ethical and religious arguments over euthanasia is the different ideas people have of the meaning and value of human existence, and of whether human beings have the right to decide issues of life and death for themselves. There are also a number of arguments based on practical issues, some people think that euthanasia shouldn’t be allowed even if it was morally right, because it could/would be abused or used as a cover up for murder.

Euthanasia can be carried out by doing something small such as giving somebody a lethal injection or by not doing something necessary to keep that person alive for example failing to keep their feeding tube going. It is not euthanasia if a person dies as a result of refusing medical treatment, for example an operation for a brain tumour. Its also not euthanasia to give a drug in order to reduce pain even if the patient dies quicker because of taking this drug. This is because the doctor’s intention was to relieve pain, not to kill the patient. (-Principle of double effect)

Join now!

People often call euthanasia “mercy killing” this phrase probably would be used if the patient were terminally ill, and suffering prolonged, unbearable pain. The word euthanasia comes from the Greek and means “easy death.” Most people think the main reason for euthanasia is unbearable pain but according to survey’s in the USA and the Netherlands less than a third of requests for Euthanasia where because of unbearable pain. Terminally ill people can have their quality of life severely damaged by physical conditions such as incontinence, nausea and vomiting, breathlessness, paralysis, difficulty in swallowing etc. Psychological factors that cause people to ...

This is a preview of the whole essay