There was a young guy who loved rap music so much. He had AIDS. He knew what his disease tried to do on him. He was very cheerful all the time, especially when he was with rap music. He enjoyed rapping with his music therapist every time. When his death came close to him he was listening his favorite music just as usual. He passed away, with having smile on his face. The music therapist successfully helped for him to achieve and hold better quality of his life for the rest of time he should have completed by himself.
The word "Euthanasia" originated from the Greek language: eu means "good" and thanatos means "death". The meaning of the word is "the intentional termination of life by another at the explicit request of the person who dies." That is, the term euthanasia normally implies that the act must be initiated by the person who wishes to commit suicide. However, some people define euthanasia to include both voluntary and involuntary termination of life. Like so many moral/ethical/religious terms, "euthanasia" has many meanings
Euthanasia, is logically divided into several categories: Active euthanasia, passive euthanasia. Active euthanasia, is actually to kill a patient. For example, the doctor gives a shot with a patient that causes a death.
Active Euthanasia: This involves causing the death of a person through a direct action, in response to a request from that person. A well known example was the mercy killing in 1998 of a patient with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) by Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a Michigan physician. His patient was frightened that the advancing disease would cause him to die a horrible death in the near future; he wanted a quick, painless exit from life. Dr. Kevorkian injected controlled substances into the patient, thus causing his death. Charged with 1st degree murder, the jury found him guilty of 2nd degree murder in 1999-MAR.
Passive euthanasia, is not to force the patient alive, for example, with any devices, so it means allowing the patient to die naturally when it comes.
Passive Euthanasia: Hastening the death of a person by altering some form of support and letting nature take its course. For example:
Perhaps the most common form of passive euthanasia is to give a patient large doses of morphine to control pain, in spite of the likelihood that the pain-killer will suppress respiration and cause death earlier than it would otherwise have happened. Such doses of pain killers have a dual effect of relieving pain and hastening death. Administering such medication is regarded as ethical in most political jurisdictions and by most medical societies.
Oregon's "Death with Dignity Act," permitting physician-assisted suicide, went into effect in 1997. Under the law, the Oregon Health Division (OHD) is required to collect information and publish a yearly statistical report. Two official reports have now been published, but there is no way to know how many or under what circumstances patients have died from physician-assisted suicide in Oregon.
The law contains no penalties for doctors who do not report prescribing lethal doses for the purpose of suicide. The Oregon Health Division has no regulatory authority or resources to ensure compliance with reporting requirements.
Oregon:1994 to the present:
Citizens in the state of Oregon approved Ballot Measure 16 in the 1994-NOV elections, which would have legalized euthanasia under limited conditions. Under the Death With Dignity law, a person who sought physician-assisted suicide would have to meet certain criteria. The person:
If they meet all of these requirements, then they could receive a prescription of a barbiturate that would be sufficient to cause death. Mercy killings by a family member or friend would not be allowed. Assisted suicides of the type performed by Dr. Jack Kevorkian would not be allowed. Physicians would be prohibited from inducing death by injection or carbon monoxide. Various informal polls in Oregon have consistently shown that most people are in favor of such a law. Most physicians are as well.
Portland, Oregon, March 25, 1998 -- An Oregon woman dying of breast cancer became the first person to use Oregon's Death With Dignity Law last night, dying peacefully in her sleep less than one-half hour after ingesting medication received from her physician. In a taped interview with her physician, the woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said, "I will be relieved of all of the stresses I have." The woman was under hospice care until she took the medication."
Barbara Coombs Lee, a chief petitioner of the Oregon law and director of Compassion in Dying Federation, said the woman had her choice at the end of life, the choice given to her by Oregon voters in 1994 and re-affirmed by an overwhelming 60%-40% margin in 1997.
"The woman died at home peacefully, surrounded by her family. That's exactly what Oregon voters intended when they voted to support the law by an overwhelming margin last November," said Coombs Lee. "This woman received exceptional end-of-life care both before and after she made the decision to use Oregon's Death With Dignity Law. She made this choice because she could no longer accept the feeling of suffocation brought on by her cancer, and the fact that all the meaningful activities in her life were no longer possible."
Oregon voters passed the Death With Dignity Law in 1994. The State Legislature placed the measure back on the ballot in 1997 asking voters to repeal the law. Oregon voters defeated the repeal effort by a 60% to 40% margin.
"Since 1994, we have seen dramatic improvements in end-of-life care for dying patients. And there can be no doubt that these improvements are directly attributable to passage of Oregon's law. The compassion shown by Oregon voters in granting dying patients this option has improved the lives of thousands of terminally ill patients across the country," said Coombs Lee. "For that we can be very grateful." Coombs Lee also responded to comments by opponents of the law who claim patients will now be abandoned at the end of life. "This woman was receiving hospice care right up until she took the medication. She died the peaceful death she chose, surrounded by her family. She fell asleep just five minutes after taking the medication and died less than a half-hour later," said Coombs Lee. "The law worked just as we envisioned. Most important of all, the woman had her choice at the end of her life."
Assistance suicide:
Physician Assisted Suicide: A physician supplies information and/or the means of committing suicide (e.g. a prescription for lethal dose of sleeping pills, or a supply of carbon monoxide gas) to a person, so that they can easily terminate their own life. The term "voluntary passive euthanasia" (VPE) is becoming commonly used. One writer 1 suggests the use of the verb "to kevork". This is derived from the name of Dr. Kevorkian, who has promoted VPE and assisted at the deaths of hundreds of patients. Originally he hooked his patients up to a machine that delivered measured doses of medications, but only after the patient pushed a button to initiate the sequence. More recently, he provided carbon monoxide and a face mask so that his patient could initiate the flow of gas.
This is the story of assistance suicide death of patient with dementia;
Kate Cheney, 85, died of assisted suicide under Oregon's "Death with Dignity Act" even though she reportedly was suffering from early dementia. Her own physician had declined to provide a lethal prescription for her.
When counseling to determine her capacity was sought, a psychiatrist determined that she was not eligible for assisted suicide since she was not explicitly pushing for it and her daughter seemed to be coaching her to do so. She was then taken to a psychologist who determined that she was competent but possibly under the influence of her daughter who was "somewhat coercive."
Finally, the managed care ethicist, who was overseeing her case, determined that she was qualified for assisted suicide, and the lethal dose was prescribed. [Oregonian, 10/17/99]
Next story is also assistance suicide death of patient with depression;
Under the Oregon law, depressed patients can receive assisted suicide if they do not have "impaired judgment."
The first known legal assisted suicide was that of a woman in her mid-80s who had been battling breast cancer for twenty-two years. Two doctors, including her own physician who believed that her request was due to depression, refused to prescribe the lethal drugs.
But Peter Goodwin, medical director of the assisted suicide group Compassion in Dying, determined that she was an "appropriate candidate" for death and referred her to a doctor who provided the lethal prescription. In an audio-tape, made two days before her death and played at a press conference, the woman said, "I will be relieved of all the stress I have." [Oregonian, 3/26/98 and Los Angeles Times, 3/26/98]
I do not believe any death that is terminated by the third person as a suicide. That is a murder. I think that any person who decides and kills a patient, such as doctors, parents, or whoever, should be guilty once. Then as the reason why they decided and killed the patient, the idea of euthanasia should finally be used. Not for the reason to die.
No matter how the other categories consider euthanasia as their for or against,such as doctors, physicians, families, and c,they are all the third persons, always excluding the patient oneself. The important discussions are always not including the main participant.
No one can say it is correct way to let anyone die in the dignity of euthanasia. It is too early to say "no chance or possibility of improving quality of life." It is not correct to kill people who "are defected" or have disability with reasoning the matter of quality of life, with the created reason by the third person. To improve any kind of life of every individual, music therapists or other therapists work. Because wanting to die or to commit a suicide can be a symptom of depression, or other mental disorders, I doubt the meaning of motivation to die that patients would have for themselves. When people suffer from disease in body, they might suffer from mental imbalance in their mind.
Not just in logically, but people actually need to avoid for a patient to die from the unsure reason that is, they can not improve their quality of life, or they can be released from their stresses by dying. "They can die if they want to die": if it is a right to hold, everyone can die under the right of dying, and the diseases should not be any excuse to quit lives. religions