StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Ethical and Moral considerations of Dr. Kevorkian - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The Ethical and Moral Considerations of Dr. Kevorkian All modern societies abide by a certain set of decided rules. These rules are called laws, and in general, are enforced to maintain a sense of regulation and normalcy, in an attempt to make human life more dignified and more pleasant…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER97.5% of users find it useful
Ethical and Moral considerations of Dr. Kevorkian
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Ethical and Moral considerations of Dr. Kevorkian"

Download file to see previous pages

While ethics are generally constituted and decided against basic principles of humanity, even those principles are subject to debate, and when that so happens, so do the ethics that are based on them. Examples of such situations are seen often throughout society, and one very famous example is that of Dr. Jack Kevorkian, otherwise known as Dr. Death. Born on May 26, 1928 to Armenian immigrants residing in Michigan, Kevorkian graduated from medical school in 1952. He came to national attention in 1990 when he was accused of assisting a 45 year old woman suffering from Alzheimer's disease to commit suicide.

Janet Adkins was the first of about 130 terminally ill people who Kevorkian would go on to assist to their death. Kevorkian's assistance consisted not of directly killing the patient, but rather by counseling these patients and then, once confirming their desire to commit suicide, creating a device which would allow the patient to kill themselves, by the simple press of button. In most cases, this device was a machine that consisted of three cylinders of dripping fluid, one being a harmless saline solution, one being a painkiller to numb the soon to occur pain, and the final one being the poison that would ultimately cause the patient's heart to fail, a solution of highly concentrated potassium chloride.

Other patients were assisted by providing them with a gas mask fed with Carbon Monoxide. The first of his patients – or victim, depending on how you see it – was Adkins, who contacted him in response to seeing a report about the doctor on television, with a desire to end her life. After a short counseling session, Kevorkian agreed and in the back of his Volkswagen, in a park, he connected the machine to Adkins through an intravenous needle, and allowed her to press the button which would get the fluids moving from the machine into her blood.

In five minutes Adkins was dead and Kevorkian was the face of national frenzy. As Kevorkian saw it, he was not a murderer in any light at all. Rather, he considered himself to be, and indeed was, a strong supported of a human's 'Right to Die' and as a result, saw himself as an assistance to the deliverance of that right (1998). The Right to Die is an age old concept, and basically says that since an individual's life is as much as his own as his body, he has the right to do exactly what he wishes to do with it, which includes living by his own choice as well as dying by it.

The right does not relate to general suicide, but rather, it is considered applicable in situations where the owner of that life may be suffering from a terminal illness and committing suicide might make the suffering of that illness shorter. Supporters of the right say that as the person is expected to die in any case, it makes no sense to prolong his suffering, and it is only ethical to do the inverse. But who has the right to shorten that suffering and under what conditions. How far does this right extend, and indeed, how much ownership do we actually have over lives?

Those are issues that are often under debate in context to the issue. What Kevorkian did was not unheard of. Assisted suicide is indeed an age-old concept, with physician-assisted suicide being defined as, 'when a physician provides either equipment or medication, or informs the patient of the most efficacious use of already available means, for the sole purpose of assisting the patient to end his or her own

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Ethical and Moral considerations of Dr. Kevorkian Essay”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/sociology/1427751-ethical-and-moral-considerations-of-dr-kevorkian
(Ethical and Moral Considerations of Dr. Kevorkian Essay)
https://studentshare.org/sociology/1427751-ethical-and-moral-considerations-of-dr-kevorkian.
“Ethical and Moral Considerations of Dr. Kevorkian Essay”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/sociology/1427751-ethical-and-moral-considerations-of-dr-kevorkian.
  • Cited: 1 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Ethical and Moral considerations of Dr. Kevorkian

The Morality, Humanity, and Legality

In order to truly understand the contraversial issue that breeds so much ethical and moral debte it is impotant to review the full scope of the topic, from both sides, eliminate misconceptions, and, ideally, represent the morality of allowing individuals to choose not why they die, but the quality of that death, when death is inevitable.... It is PAS that does get the greatest attention, because legislation is, always, being presented to, legalize the practice, but it is the ethical and moral elements that keep the issue, in many instances, at a stale mate....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Euthanasia, Merciful or Merciless

This essay dwells on a contradictory issue - the attitude towards euthanasia.... It is mentioned, in the past few years Montana, Washington and, to a lesser extent, Texas have joined Oregon in legalizing euthanasia, also referred to as “doctor assisted suicide” or “mercy killing”.... … According to the author of the text, the issue of euthanasia seldom discussed in the political or public areas but it is soon to become more prominent....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

The Value of Virtue Ethics in a World of Emotivism

Most people were unfamiliar with the concept of Physician Assisted Suicide until Dr Jack kevorkian.... The headlines across the country told the tale of “dr Death” (Pickert 1).... There are a number of ethical issues presented by, both, side of the debate.... Since that time the ethical arguments of death with dignity versus a legal route to homicide have been unending....
9 Pages (2250 words) Research Paper

Euthanasia in the United States

Each form of euthanasia carries its own legal ramifications and is governed by its own set of ethical considerations.... It is vital that the health professionals understand the cultural, legal, and ethical climate that may allow, forbid, or dictate the use of what is commonly called euthanasia....
6 Pages (1500 words) Coursework

Professionals and the Euthanasia Issue

The fact is, the authors conclude, that really is no way to take out the considerations that come to play in such a decision-making process, and it is this inability to monitor the process and ensure that it is one based solely on the needs and the desire of the person who is suffering the terminal illness (p 28).... Rosenbaum (1989) examined the moral implications of euthanasia....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

Ethics Class- Euthanasia

The American Medical Associations Council on ethical and Judicial Affairs defines the term as follows "Euthanasia is commonly defined as the act of bringing about the death of a hopelessly ill and suffering person in a relatively quick and painless way for reasons of mercy.... There are many philosophical… This article tries to explain the ethical views especially that of Hume's, Hobbes's and Machiavelli's and gives an insight into what these philosophers and others had to say on euthanasia....
16 Pages (4000 words) Essay

Assisted Suicide

However, there have been heated constitutional debates on the legality of physician assisted suicide, whereby some support the act while others oppose it based on moral and religious basis (Manning, 2002).... The term assisted suicide is commonly used to refer to a situation whereby a person suffering from a terminal illness is helped with the means to terminate his or her life in order to protect the patient from continued suffering (Sissela, 2005)....
5 Pages (1250 words) Research Paper

Physician Assisted Suicide or Hospice

In addition to being an ethical principle which upholds the rights of the patient, informed consent also mandates that physicians must explain the benefits and risks of any and all treatment options.... The paper “Physician-Assisted Suicide or Hospice” seeks to evaluate law and bioethics....
15 Pages (3750 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us