Should physician-assisted death be legalized in all countries?

[PeterDonis]

"euthanasia" is still illegal in all 50 states.

Yes, you're right, "euthanasia" was not the correct term for me to use.

 

[berkeman]

I am in England berkeman,

I know that -- I can tell it from your accent...

I was just wondering if the Canadian rules were similar to your thoughts.

 

[Sophia]

A DNR is usually employed in situations where a person has a terminal illness and simply doesn't want anyone to attempt to save them if they go critical and the heart stops beating. I completely understand and agree with that. If a person is being kept alive by machines and conscious and can indicate YES I want this life saving equipment taken off of me. Then YES I agree they have that right. BUT at that point its more of an assisted suicide. In some cases like my brother he couldn't make a choice and they fell back on a comment he made in conversations (I never heard him say any such thing) before he ever got sick. They consulted the family and asked us and each person got to say what they wanted but in the end a hospital administrator produced a document my brother had signed that allowed them to treat him and in that document it said in the event you are unable to make critical decisions about your care who do you want making those decisions He wrote down his "common law" wife's name. He basically told us she had control and final say. So our wishes wouldn't have mattered anyway. I was under the assumption that the hospital had to try everything they could to save his life, but as it turns out no they don't. They told us we can take the leg and give him dialysis and try to get the infection under control with no guarantee he'll survive, or we can take him off the ventilator and make him comfortable. Myself and his daughter said take the leg, everyone else said its up to his wife.

Was what they did even legal? How could they even allow discussion about turning the ventilator off if there is still a chance of saving him?
In such cases, doctors are surely responsible for doing everything they can and ask about euthanasia only if there is absolutely no chance of helping.


I know this will not bring your brother back but did you consult with a lawyer?

 

[OmCheeto]

...Morally, I think the difference should be obvious: it is about who makes the choice.
...

And, according to that "60 Minutes" episode, the people who made the choice, still had a choice.

"Since 1997, more than 1,500 prescriptions have been written in Oregon -- over a third who requested it, never took the medication".
​

Like most things in life, and death, there are 7 billion ways to go.

Personally, I'm pro-choice.

As I've pointed out before, my father, who lived in Arizona, who didn't have a choice, chose to put a bullet through his head, to end his suffering.

That was about 10 years ago.

To this day, I wonder, if the last thing I want to hear in life, is a gunshot, or, just peacefully going to the long sleep.

Tough question.

 

[Tsu]

Are there other DNR forms other than the POLST form?

I filled out an Advance Directive and did not need a physician's signature.
http://www.oregon.gov/DCBS/insurance/shiba/Documents/advance_directive_form.pdf

 

[berkeman]

That was about 10 years ago.

Sorry, Om.

 

[OmCheeto]

I filled out an Advance Directive and did not need a physician's signature.
http://www.oregon.gov/DCBS/insurance/shiba/Documents/advance_directive_form.pdf

From the wording of your form; "Signature of Health Care Representative", it sounds like someone with some medical background had to sign the form.
That sounds like it's in line with the POLST form.
The POLST form specifically lists that they be signed by an MD, DO, PA, or NP.

PA, or Physician Assistant, is a health care professional licensed to practice medicine with physician supervision.
NP, or Nurse Practitioner, designates a Registered Nurse with advanced education and training, who practices in all specialty areas to assess, diagnose, and treat patients of all ages and with all types of health needs. ​

[ref]

It kind of sounded, in your original post, as if you could just sign a DNR form, without anyone looking at it, and having it filed.

 

[gjonesy]

Was what they did even legal?

As far as I know it was, in the event you can not make decisions for yourself you can assign that right to someone else ( power of attorney )
She took him to the hospital that night, he was able to walk in on his on power but shortly there after the infection started taking over. My guess is that before they put him on the ventilator (probably just to secure his airway) they asked him for consent and who he would want to make his decisions for him. He made her his power of attorney. He walked into the hospital on December 20th at 230 am 2009 on Dec, 21st at 7:30 pm he was dead. She didn't call anyone in his immediate family till he was in intensive care. I received word around 500pm that afternoon, got to the hospital at 600pm I was there less than 30 minutes before they called us into a conference room and broke the news that he was "most likely going to die". The only real comfort I have is a secret he'd revealed to my mother just a couple weeks before he died. He had pancreatic cancer. BUT a simple infection from a small cut on his foot that he neglected was what took him out. People don't think of diabetes as anything more than a chronic treatable disease and for the most part it is...its everything that comes with it that can kill you.

 

[Sophia]

As far as I know it was, in the event you can not make decisions for yourself you can assign that right to someone else ( power of attorney )
She took him to the hospital that night, he was able to walk in on his on power but shortly there after the infection started taking over. My guess is that before they put him on the ventilator (probably just to secure his airway) they asked him for consent and who he would want to make his decisions for him. He made her his power of attorney. He walked into the hospital on December 20th at 230 am 2009 on Dec, 21st at 7:30 pm he was dead. She didn't call anyone in his immediate family till he was in intensive care. I received word around 500pm that afternoon, got to the hospital at 600pm I was there less than 30 minutes before they called us into a conference room and broke the news that he was "most likely going to die". The only real comfort I have is a secret he'd revealed to my mother just a couple weeks before he died. He had pancreatic cancer. BUT a simple infection from a small cut on his foot that he neglected was what took him out. People don't think of diabetes as anything more than a chronic treatable disease and for the most part it is...its everything that comes with it that can kill you.

I meant if he really wasn't able to decide himself. You said he was conscious. In such cases, patients can communicate by blinking / eye movements.
However, now that you told us about the pancreatic cancer (which is one of the most aggressive types) I can understand the decision better.