Perspectives on Assisted Suicide

I have written in the past about Oregon's Death With Dignity Act, which is just that - a way for terminally citizens of that state to end their lives through voluntary self-administration of lethal medications prescribed by a physician.  There are a couple of new studies which should give pause to advocates.  Study says fear big factor in assisted suicide explains that an Oregon Health and Science University study discovered that patients are not requesting it because of current physical symptoms or quality of life, but because of fear of future suffering.  Most patients had incurable cancer.

Dutch study showing patients requesting euthanasia likely depressed suggests that 50% of patients choosing assisted suicide were suffering from depression.  A related statistic - 15% to 25% of cancer patients suffer depression.  The article concludes, "How do you prevent vulnerable people from being killed when what they really needed was good care?"  Check for depression if requesting physician assisted suicide provides Oregon statistics on the psychological condition of a group of patients requesting assisted suicide.  The study corroborates the earlier Dutch study.

Assisted suicide is fine in a perfect world is written by doctor who argues that assisting death and curing people are incompatible.  He provides anecdotal examples of former patients (including his mother) who requested assisted suicide and were denied, and today have healthy, rewarding lives.  He too, is concerned about patients ending their lives because of depression. 

Assisted suicide is a weighty consideration and it is shaped by many forks in our beliefs and life experiences.  I believe that life is more than a chemical reaction - life is special, a gift and simultaneously a duty.  Having been involved in athletics throughout my life, I have had a progression of coaches who have taught me to never quit.  It sounds trite, but The Show Must Go On.  That may be hurtful for those that are contemplating assisted suicide, and I apologize - I hope you find the proper counsel.

To add additional perspective, consider Dignitas founder plans assisted suicide of healthy woman.  The clinic plans to help a healthy woman die alongside her terminally ill husband.  The clinic's founder describes suicide as a "marvelous opportunity" that should not be restricted to terminally ill or persons with severe disabilities.  Mmm.

Comments

[CharlesT]

Two links to replace the one missing on Dignitas:
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=16293819
http://thesuicidetourist.com/blog/?m=200711

I strongly agree that life is not just a gift but a duty-- the "suicide tourist" is implicitly seeking self-gratification, but is there truly nothing such people can offer the world? The biggest concern I have over such "assistance" is that our elders will choose to depart rather than risk becoming a burden to us. (The second biggest is that the younger set, with eyes on a prospective inheritance, will encourage such thinking.)

Those whom I have known at the end of life phase have had a lot to offer me-- not just wisdom and perspective, but an opportunity to serve. That is, an opportunity to turn my concerns away from self and to another: the antithesis of assisted suicide.