Physicians are expected to uphold the ethical norms of their profession, including fidelity to patients and respect for patient self-determination. Must provide appropriate comfort care and adequate pain control.Must provide good communication and emotional support.Should not abandon a patient once it is determined that cure is impossible.Instead of engaging in assisted suicide, physicians must aggressively respond to the needs of patients at the end of life. Physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer, would be difficult or impossible to control, and would pose serious societal risks. However, permitting physicians to engage in assisted suicide would ultimately cause more harm than good. It is understandable, though tragic, that some patients in extreme duress-such as those suffering from a terminal, painful, debilitating illness-may come to decide that death is preferable to life. Physician-assisted suicide occurs when a physician facilitates a patient’s death by providing the necessary means and/or information to enable the patient to perform the life-ending act (e.g., the physician provides sleeping pills and information about the lethal dose, while aware that the patient may commit suicide).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |