Unit 4

Running head: UNIT 4

UNIT 4

2

Assignment Unit 4

HA405-01: Leadership And Ethics In Healthcare

Running head: UNIT 4

1

UNIT 4

Assignment Unit 4

Mercy death is when action is taking to terminate a patient’s life on the request of the patient who typically is terminally ill and often is unable to end their own lives (Thiroux & Krasemann, 2015). Physician-assisted suicide also falls under mercy death with the physician supplying lethal drugs to the patient and letting them perform the action to end their own life. Currently, there are only eight states in the U.S. that have laws that allow physician-assisted suicide, which includes California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Montana, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington (Andriessen, Krysinska, Castelli-Dransart, Dargis, & Mishara, 2019). For this paper, I will assume the role of an administrator in the state of California, where physician-assisted suicide is legal. It is my stance that if allowed by the laws governing the state, then physician-assisted suicide is ethical and would be allowed at the facility with strict stipulations in place. The first stipulation would be that the patient would have to be terminally ill without any chances of being cured. Second, the patient would have to wait 30 days from the time they have made their decision to give them a chance to thoroughly think about the actions they want to take and give them time to change their minds. The patient would also have to go through a psychological and cognitive assessment to ensure that the patient can make such a decision. Once all of these stipulations have been met, the physician may provide the patient with lethal drugs to terminate their own lives. The physician would not be able to perform the actions of administering the medications directly. If the patient is unable to perform it themselves, they may designate someone to administer it for them. Legal documentation would have to be provided, showing the patients will to end their lives as well as who they have designated when appropriate. Many of us wouldn’t hesitate to end a family pet’s life to end pain and suffering; patients should hold the same determination over their own lives.

References

Andriessen, K., Krysinska, K., Castelli-Dransart, D. A., Dargis, L., & Mishara, B. L. (2019). Grief after euthanasia and physician-assited suicide. The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention, 1–18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1027/0277-5910/a000630

Thiroux, J. P., & Krasemann, K. W. (2015). Ethics theory and practice (11th updated). New York, NY: Pearson. Retrieved from http://purdueuniversityglobal.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781323130162/cfi/6/2!/4/2@0:75.0