Legal Issues of the Practice of Euthanasia - Case Study Example

LEGAL ISSUES Name: Course Professor’s name University name City, State Date of submission Legal Issues Introduction The practice of euthanasia has elicited controversial debates in the recent past. Divergent views have arisen with some favoring the practice while others standing against it. Euthanasia is defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary as the practice of killing or allowing death of a terminally ill or injured individual in a gentle way (Merriam-Webster online, 2012). It can also be referred to as mercy killing. There are four forms of euthanasia: voluntary and direct, involuntary but direct, voluntary but direct and finally involuntary and indirect (Jackson, 2005, p.10). The four forms of the practice differ in the following ways: voluntary and direct is the situation where it is the patient’s choice and it is carried out by the patient, voluntary but indirect is carried out by the patient but he makes the decision in advance, direct but involuntary is carried out without the permission of the patient while indirect and voluntary euthanasia is a situation where the hospital makes the decision to remove the life support of the patient. The practice is the subject of many debates due to its controversial viewpoint. It is often challenged on moral, religious, legal, philosophical and human rights grounds in many countries. Some countries have legalized the practice, but it still illegal in most countries. One such country that has legalized the practice is the Netherlands. According to estimates the Netherlands has the leading number of physician assisted suicides (PAS) each year. Estimates place it at the top followed by Denmark, Japan, New Zealand Switzerland, Australia and France respectively. The controversy is mainly sparked by the need to uphold an individual’s wish to die peacefully and with dignity to avoid suffering and the need to uphold the human right to life as recognized by article 6(1) of the international covenant on civil and political rights (ICCPR). The article clearly states that every human being has an inherent to life which will be protected by law so that it is not arbitrary taken. Conditions to Qualify for Voluntary Euthanasia ` However, there are sufficient conditions that have necessitated some states to enact the laws in favor of the practice. One such act is the Rights of the Terminally Ill Act of 1995 (NT), in Australia. The Act allowed medics to induce voluntary euthanasia upon request of t patient or a person with the foresaid authority. However, this Act did not last for long as the federal parliament removed it from operation by passing amendments on the Federal Parliament of the Northern Territory (self government) Act of 1978. the conditions which must exist for voluntary euthanasia to be carried out include: firstly, the patient is suffering from a terminal illness, it is unlikely for the patient to benefit from a discovery of a cure, going through intolerable pain due to the treatment, makes an enduring, competent and voluntary wish to die and finally, is unable to carry it out himself without an assistance. The article 6(1) of the ICCPR has elicited debates on the scope of the right to life, definition of life, end of life and the term arbitrary deprivation of life. To challenge these issues, the Human Rights unit in 1996 released a paper, Human Rights and Euthanasia, to discuss the emerging issues in particular to show the state of law and policy at that period (Manning, 1998, p.105). Application to the Case Study In the current case study, the various stakeholders will consider a number of underlying conditions to arrive at an amicable solution. Patty is 65 year old woman, suffering from end-stage cardiac disease, depression and stroke. She has demonstrated through signs that she wants to die. This partly due to the death of her roommate she had a close relationship. She is constantly in pain due to her earlier stroke and heart disease. She is hospitalized on a number of times and has become very weak due to her refusal to take food and receive medication. The first condition the stakeholders will consider in their decision whether to grant permission or not is the legality of the practice in the state (Jackson, 2005, p.150). They will consider if the practice is allowed by law in the state the patient resides. The Northern states of Australia were the first to pass into law euthanasia. It however, lasted only for a short time before it was overturned. At present, all states of Australia prohibit the practice. Based on this condition, Patty’s request will be denied. However, there are exceptions where there is an advance medical directive or power of attorney laws. They will consider the operatively of these two facilities in the state of residence. Advance medical directives require that the patient signs a legal document showing his refusal to receive medical treatment in case he loses her communication. The patient draws a list of treatments that will not be acceptable to her. The effectiveness of the document will depend on the legal status and the state and territory of the subjects. If the two conditions hold then the medics are legally bound to respect it. In this case study, the patient did not evoke the facility. She did not sign any advance medical care directive to create a list medications that would be unacceptable to her. Due to the unavailability of this document in this case study it is inconsequential in the decision making model (Dickenson, 2003, p.17). Patty’s two sisters have come to the conclusion that their sister’s wish be respected. The sisters’ decision is important to the overall decision model because she had appointed them as her medical power of attorney (Cavan, 2000, p.36). The power vested in the sisters can be related to the advance medical directive document. They will carry out the function of ensuring that only acceptable medical treatments are performed (Frankowski, 1998, p.292). This facility is however, subject to limitation of state and territory in Australia. ` Another condition that will be considered by the doctors and the legal practitioners is the terminality of her disease. Patty is suffering an end-stage cardiac disease coupled with strokes. She is also suffering from depression due to the demise of a close confidant she had shared a room with for the last five years. The futility of her healing from the diseases ailing her places her in the terminally ill bracket. It is unlikely that she can benefit from new medications to cure her. Therefore, the doctors and legal practitioners will put her under serious consideration for voluntary euthanasia due to the terminality of her disease and the unlikelihood of benefit from new medication in her life expectancy. The patient, patty, is suffering from pain and discomfort due to the refusal of treatment. Her body metabolism levels have decreased due to a previous stroke and the end-stage cardiac disease. The pain and discomfort suffered due to the disease and treatment will be factored into the decision making model (Mcdougall, 2008, p.180). She becomes more distressed physically due to the advanced heart disease. She exhibits shortness of breath, fluid retention and the immobility. Due to this discomfort, the relevant stakeholders may consider granting the request of voluntary euthanasia. Another factor to consider is the endurance; competency and voluntariness of the patient’s request (Cavan, 2000, p.56). Patty shows her will to die through refusing nutrition, hydration and medication. She demonstrates it physically by closing her mouth tightly during feeding and eventually turning her head away. Her loss of communication is exhibited by her lack of ability to initiate a conversation. The nursing staff can be relied on to provide an unbiased opinion of the competence and viability of the decision made by the patient. They are of the opinion that the patient, Patty, had matured from a self-effacing quiet compliant resident of the home to an individual who lives by her choices and life plan. They believe the decision she has made is an intentional and conscious due to her strong moral personhood. The opinion of the nursing staff can be relied on because of the strong therapeutic relationship with the patient (Cohen-Almagor, 2004, p.29). The opinion of an old age psychiatrist is also sort to establish the endurance, competency and voluntariness of the patient’s decision. The psychiatrist will judge the moral personhood of the patient. He will find out the determinants that have led her to arrive at the decision. He will the judge if the decision is intentional and conscious. The recommendations of the psychiatrist will be significant in either granting the request or denying it. The opinion of the psychiatrist will be mainly be through analysis of how logically the patient answers his questions as she can answer questions, but not initiate conversation. Therefore, he will give a report on the mental capacity to arrive at informed decisions by the patient (De Leo, 2001, p.216). The final consideration for the procedure is the inability to commit the suicide herself. The staff attests that providing support for the patient will require invasive procedures, insertion of feeding tubes and medication through alternative routes. The experience with her roommate of an environment with acute care has increased the anxiety of the patient. She refuses to be subjected to life support machine shown by her unwillingness to transfer to the hospital to cater for health needs. The condition the patient is in shows her inability to commit suicide on her own. Conclusion The stakeholders could, therefore, recommend physician assisted suicide to relieve the patient off pain and render her a gentle and peaceful death. The patient, to induce death, is usually given an overdose of muscle relaxants or sedatives that induce coma and eventually death (Munk, 1977, p.93). Reference List Mcdougall, J. F., Gorman, M., & Roberts, C. S. (2008). Euthanasia: a reference handbook. Santa Barbara, Calif, ABC-CLIO. Manning, M. (1998). Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide: killing or caring? New York, NY, Paulist Press. Jackson, L. (2005). Euthanasia Chicago, Raintree press. Munk, W. (1977). Literature of Death and Dying New York, Arno press. Definition of Euthanasia retrieved from http:// www.merriam-webster.com/ euthanasia/definition. Cavan, S. (2000). Focus on Science and Society New York, Rosen Publishing Group. FRANKOWSKI, S. (1998). Legal responses to AIDS in comparative perspective. The Hague [u.a.], Kluwer Law Internat. COHEN-ALMAGOR, R. (2004). Euthanasia in the Netherlands: the policy and practice of mercy killing. Dordrecht ; Boston, Kluwer Academic Publishers. DICKENSON, D., & PARKER, M. (2003). The Cambridge medical ethics workbook case studies, commentaries and activities. Cambridge [u.a.], Cambridge Univ. Press. DE LEO, D. (2001). Suicide and euthanasia in older adults: a transcultural journey. Toronto, Hogrefe & Huber. Read More