The Ethical Dilemma of Euthanasia

When you think of a physician, it’s usually about how they help a patient survive or how they treat a patient, but there’s not much discussion about a physician relieving the pain of their patient in the context of death. Euthanasia, by definition, is a painless process of death that is typically used when the patient is suffering through an incurable/painful disease. The process is illegal in most of America, which is understandable, because a physician assisting a patient towards death seems unethical, but is it really? Personally, I don’t think euthanasia is an unethical process. If my patient was in constant pain, I’d do everything in my power to come up with a proper method of relief, but if in the case they feel as though they’ve suffered for way too long and want to be let go, I’d want to honor their wishes. Reasons being, if they’re going through pain that might lead them to death, why not make the process a painless one? Obviously there are many factors that have to be considered before proceeding with euthanasia. The patient’s age, how long they’ve been suffering, whether or not their treatment, if any, is helpful, potential curative options and lastly if they’re actually in the right state of mind to make a decision that big for themselves. If the patient is older, has been suffering for a while, doesn’t have a proper treatment method for their disease, all curative methods have been gone over and the person has no mental issues that are hindering accurate decisions, the patient should have euthanasia as an option. While all these factors are having to do with the patient, the physician also has to take into consideration the patient’s family, and how they want to proceed with the situation. Although the patient's diagnosis, following what I mentioned above, favors euthanasia, it might not be what the family wants, because it is always difficult to get a loved one go, no matter the situation. I believe that euthanasia should be legalized, but only used to a certain extent, after all, a physician is there to heal you!