Assisted Suicide Essay Example for Free

Assisted Suicide Essay Have you ever heard a grown man cry; a cry so loud that you can hear and feel the pain within his voice? No, well it happens daily, here in the United States. There are thousands of people that are going through so much suffering that pain killers are like putting a band aid of a bullet wound. As hours pass the wound is getting bigger and the band aids are helping less and less. Most of these people just want a release, but even professionals cannot grant that request. Physician Assisted Suicide (PAS) is a controversial topic which is debated on through out the world. PAS) is a process where a doctor or nurse gives a lethal injection of medicine to a patient in need. But since this procedure is illegal, doctors are not allowed to aid an individual that is seeking a final release. This is the reason why terminally ill patients around the country are constantly tormented with pain and agony past their will. Assisted Suicide should be legalized in the United States because it will lead to less pain and suffering, less financial problems, and more time for the doctors and the patient’s family to get past this tragic event. The history of assisted suicide is neither lengthy nor complex. Aided suicide has origins tracing all the way back to around the fourth century, when scholars estimate the Hippocratic Oath, an ethical vow taken by doctors, was written (Liecht). Part of the Oath states, â€Å"I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan† (Picket). What this statement is saying is that doctors are not legally or morally allowed to assist a terminally ill patient end his or her life. Within the last thirty years, however, instances of physician assisted suicide have been showing up all over the world. In 1997, Oregon created the â€Å"death with Dignity† law that â€Å"allows terminally ill patients to commit suicide with lethal doses of prescribed medication (Picket). â€Å"At least now theres a discussion around end-of-life care and what people want, and making sure they have access to hospice† (Dr. Hedberg). â€Å"People are talking to their physicians about being in pain. That dialogue has been improving in the state. I dont want to say that its because we have the law. However, over the past 10 years, it has opened people up to thinking about end-of-life care and palliative care as an important aspect of medical care† (Dr, Hedberg). So as years pass more and more terminally ill patients ask for the â€Å"end-of-life care† because of the pain and suffering they have to go through daily. Individuals that are at the end of their lives should have a voice to whether or not they should live painfully or die peacefully on their own terms. Everyday in the United States people decide to take their own lives so they do not have to go through sever problems health wise. For example, take the story of Edward Downes and his wife, Joan Downes was a successful maestro. He conducted the BBC Philharmonic and the Royal Opera when he was at his prime. In her prime, his wife had been a ballet dancer, as well as a choreographer. Recently, however, he had become nearly blind and his hearing was deteriorating very rapidly. Joan, his wife, had recently been diagnosed with cancer. Instead of living out the rest of their lives in pain and with the burden of the worsening medical conditions, the pair chose to use physician assisted suicide. The couple’s children were supportive and stated, â€Å"After 54 years together, our parents died peacefully and under circumstances of their own choosing† (Sciutto). Nine hundred and ? ty six usable responses relating to physician assisted suicide (PAS) and 957 in relation to family assisted suicide (FAS) were available. 84% of respondents supported legalization of (PAS) and 54% legalization of (FAS). This compares with 75% in favor of legalization of (PAS) in the US in 1994 and 73% in Australia in 1995 (O’Neil, Feenan, Hughes). These statistics are stating that the majority of the population that was given these questions believes that if assisted suicide were performed that they would want a professional performing this task. Conversely, there are many barriers in making decisions about death among family members, including culture, education, knowledge of the health care system, and the delegating of all decisions entirely to the family (Haley). A family member of a patient stated that all she wanted was â€Å"another sane adult’ who could â€Å"talk in terms†¦that removed the taboo from the processes by giving a real clear picture of possible approaches without advocating [PAS]† (Spigel). It is obvious that no relative would want to let a member of the family pass away without doing what ever is possible, so that the patient has every fighting chance to pull through. So the burden ways equally on the family, if not, more, because when it comes to assisted suicide grieving will last longer than pain every time. Once the procedure has taken place, the family members are the ones who have to take care of the patient after they are diseased. Along with pain and suffering, money is another aspect that needs to be taken into onsideration when the discussion of Physician Assisted Suicide comes up, in an unfortunate conversation. Every year more and more people are diagnosed with terminal illnesses, and the financial toll of the medical bills that are increasing rapidly and the burden falls mainly on the loved ones of the patient. These high medical costs must be borne by the patient, the patient’s family, or the society to prolong life. Thus, the decision to not prolong death could be beneficial to all parties involved (Chan and Lien). The longer the families hold off on their decision, the longer the hospital bill will be. Therefore the benefit of euthanasia is to avoid the realization of the negative cash flows (Chan and Lien). The older a person gets the easier it is to get seriously injured, so elderly people are more of a risk, and less of an award when they have to undergo medical procedures that might or might not save their lives. These trends will be cause for concern. Those elderly and infirm, who must rely on family and friends for care, feel particularly guilty about placing an extra financial burden on their loved ones (Odone). The elderly, as a group, have lower income and are more likely to suffer medical conditions that require a large sum of money to cure or manage (Chan and Lien). This fact alone displays the benefits of having Physician Assisted Suicide as an option that is available at all times. So if someone over the age of sixty gets hurt or injured within your family, most of those expenses are coming out of your pocket. Most of this care is still provided by relatives and friends, while state financed care is available only for those with low incomes. As a result, many pensioners are forced into selling their houses if they move into a nursing home, where the average cost is higher than what a majority of the people with medical problems have the ability to make. Some 2. 5 million elderly live below the poverty line (Odone). Denote Vt as the benefit of euthanasia at the time when terminal illness is diagnosed. Vt includes the cost of continued treatments avoided and the pain and suffering associated with the terminal illness that can also be avoided with euthanasia (Chan and Lien). The t in Vt represents time, so as t goes up the value of Vt goes down. The shorter time it takes an individual to react to the unforgiving reality of terminal illnesses, the better off the patient and the patient’s family will be. So if anyone is considering Physician Assisted Suicide, it would be more beneficial to them if they would go through with procedure sooner than later. The disadvantaged are also hit by today’s recession, when euthanasia may be seen as a cost-effective way to treat not only the terminally ill but all those who require extra care and assistance, including the elderly (Odone). Even though euthanasia is cheaper than keeping someone in the hospital, make sure that your situation is necessary for this process. So if euthanasia is available to you, do it for the right reason instead of thinking that is an easy way out. Consider the view point of a person that has a grandmother that was just diagnosed with a terminal illness. At first you will do what ever it takes to get your grandma back to tip top shape. But as time goes on, her situation is progressively getting worst and so are those bills that are stacking up on your kitchen counter. All of a sudden you have dug a hole so big finically that you can barely feed your family let alone yourself. So paving the way for the early and speedy exit of the elderly and the infirm can suddenly seem like a practical and inexpensive solution (Odone). Last but not least, the emotional aspect of assisted suicide is one of the most important contributions in the making of this decision. The emotions of the patient are the reason why the topic of Physician Assisted Suicide even comes up in a conversation. The mental mindset of the nurses and/or doctors is the reason why the procedure actually takes place. But the emotions of the patients’ loved ones will stay with them for as long as they will live. So the mindset of individuals called emotions are the reasons why (PAS) is needed and why it actually takes place. One doctor quoted a patient as saying, â€Å"I am going to come in and I am going to try to convince you. † Another doctor said, â€Å"I learned very quickly that the patient’s agenda is to get the medication. When I tried to talk them out of it, or to really assess their motivations, then they perceived me as obstructionist and became quite resentful of that (Stevens). The minds of the patients are made up. These unfortunate individuals are more concerned about relieving the pain and stress they have been going through, than to worry about the suggestions of others. If the patients don’t care about another person’s opinion on life decisions their life, then why should the government say that nobody can end their life early because of medical reasons? In a structured in-depth telephone interview survey of randomly selected United States oncologists who reported participating in euthanasia or (PAS), Emanuel reported 53% of hysicians received comfort from having helped a patient with euthanasia or (PAS), 24% regretted performing euthanasia or (PAS), and 16% of the physicians reported that the emotional burden of performing euthanasia or (PAS) adversely affected their medical practice (Stevens). An oncologist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. This observation of different doctors’ experience is stating that the majority of the doct ors feel better when they know that they helped a person in need. Dr. Linda Ganzini described the painful experience of two patients whom she [as the evaluating psychiatrist] disqualified for the option of Oregon’s assisted suicide law. She stated: â€Å"These disqualifications resulted in extraordinary pain and anger for both of the patients and their families, which interfered with much-needed opportunities to resolve other emotional issues (Stevens). † Although the mindset of a patient is not as clear as is would be if they were healthy, these individuals are still capably of thinking for themselves. But if the patient is not stable, the physician should consult with the family. But in this case, the doctor bypassed both the patient and the family’s choice when it came down to their daughters’ health. If both families agreed to have this procedure done on their loved one, then there should be not controversy with the decision by the doctor. Pain and anger is directed towards and felt by the evaluating psychiatrist. Such anger was energetically expressed by Kate Cheney, an Oregon PAS patient, whose evaluating psychiatrist told her, â€Å"You can’t make a decision for yourself and your life, because you are not in your right mind. † Kate Cheney’s angry response was â€Å"Get out of my house. I can’t believe you can tell me something like this (Stevens). † A psychiatrist is a doctor trained in the treatment of people with psychiatric disorders. This situation is another instant where the doctor denies a patient of Physician Assisted Suicide because the evaluating psychiatrist claims that the person in need is not mentally capable to determine if the illness is great enough to perform (PAS). The anger from Kate has carried on to her daughter. That shows that the patient, Kate, was mentally capable to express her anger enough that, the same emotion was cared on to another generation.

Isolation in Faulkners Light in August Essay -- Light August Essays

  Isolation in Light In August  Ã‚   In William Faulkner’s Light In August, most characters seem isolated from each other and from society. It is often argued that Lena Grove is an exception to this, but I have found that I cannot agree with this view. Consequently, this essay will show that Lena is lonely too, and that the message in Faulkner’s work on the issue of human contact is that everyone is essentially alone, either by voluntary recession from company or by involuntary exclusion, and the only escape from this loneliness is to have a proper family to comfort you. As a child, Lena was involuntarily isolated from a society she wanted to be a part of. We are told that â€Å"six or eight times a year she went to town on Saturday† (p. 5), which obviously was not enough for her. â€Å"It was because she believed that the people who saw her and whom she passed on foot would believe that she lived in town too† (p. 5). Lena had a need to be a part of society and join the ranks of ordinary people in an ordinary town, which presumably includes marrying and starting a family. Living with McKinley in a far off mill hamlet continued to keep Lena isolated, and this condition was further aggravated by the fact that she was kept busy with housework much of the time. Admittedly, housekeeping for a large family is one kind of community, but it is not the kind that Lena wants. She would rather have a family of her own than care for someone else’s, and so she seeks love in the form of Lucas Burch. Unfortunately, Burch does not want to start a family. He only uses Lena for his own pleasure, and as soon as she tells him about the pregnancy, he leaves town (p. 16-17). Lena takes off on a quest to reunite herself with her would-be hu... ...g the society she loves. When she no longer has any hope of putting her family together the way she reckons it should be, she can no longer face society because she will never fit in. Even if she married Bunch, he would still not be her child’s father, which would make their family an anomaly. Lena has turned into a voluntary outcast, dragging Byron Bunch around to help her run her daily life but never letting him get intimate, never really making him a part of her life. After being forced into isolation from society for most of her life, Lena has now chosen to remain isolated. She is just as alone as any other character in Light in August. The conclusion I inevitably reach is that Faulkner wanted to portray family as the ultimate unit of society. Without a family, you cannot fit into society, and if you do not fit into society, you are essentially alone.   

Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligence Essay

Many years ago it was quite common to label someone with a high IQ as a â€Å"genius† or as being more intelligent than others. Albert Einstein is one of those men who were labeled as a genius because of all that he had accomplished at such a young age. Undeniably, Einstein’s smarts were extremely remarkable, but records show that he was not the best student. Although Einstein scored extremely well in areas like Math and Physics, it has been noted that in areas like linguistics, he did not excel (Albert Einstein, 2005). Does this make Einstein, any less of a genius? According to Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, a person’s intelligence isn’t necessarily measured in standardized testing or school grades. Gardner identifies that each person’s learning style is different, so the intelligence could excel in any of the eight styles: Linguistic, Musical, Logical, Naturalistic, Visual, Kinesthetic, Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal ( Kowalski & Westen, 2011). This means that someone like Ludwig van Beethoven who may not have been as scholarly as Albert Einstein, can still be considered a genius due to his musical intelligence. The eight different intelligences described by Gardner are what he believed to be the eight strengths in which a person can learn. Gardner believed that because everyone can learn in one of these eight different styles, then they could excel in any of the respective fields. A person who possesses a linguistic intelligence is described as someone who uses words and communication effectively. A person with linguistic intelligence would have excellent auditory skills, and translates everything into words or speech. On the other hand, someone who possesses the learning style of spatial intelligence would be most comfortable with graphics, physical imagery, and visuals (Campbell, 1992). However, someone with a preference to the kinesthetic style of learning would be most comfortable with being hands on. They learn by doing, touching, and anything that involves physical activity, therefore their intelligence might look more like acting out, or role playing. Another learning style of multiple intelligences described by Gardner is naturalistic. Someone who possesses a naturalistic style of learning is more in tune with their surroundings, and focus a lot with what nature is giving them. The naturalistic intelligence was not added to the multiple intelligences until much later. Gardner’s theory was introduced to naturalistic in response to the nature versus nurture debate, in which a person learns from their surroundings, or environment in which they are in (Sulaiman, Hassan, & Yi, 2011). One of the bigger learning styles in Gardner’s theory is that of intrapersonal and interpersonal. Intrapersonal is that in which a person learns from themselves. Someone who keeps to themselves and does not get socially involved (Campbell, 1992). On the complete different spectrum, is the interpersonal learning style. Like a social butterfly, interpersonal refers to someone who works well with others, enjoys working in teams, center of attention, and just like they seek attention of others, others seek their attention as well. I personally identify with the interpersonal school of learning the best out of all of the intelligences in Gardner’s theory. I mostly work well when accompanied by others. I am a team player, and team leader. Others usually seek to me for advice, and I tend to deliver my best results, when working with others. This is the intelligence that is mostly credited with the slang term of â€Å"street smarts† (Sulaiman, Hassan, & Yi, 2011). Having played sports for a big part of my life, I tend to carry my thoughts as a team. I carry the team and make sure to understand everyone on the team. I always think of others first, and having that one on one interaction is most important to me. Throughout my career, I have found myself to be in leadership roles quite frequentl y, because many others who are not strengthen by the interpersonal intelligence feel as if I can lead better due to the emphasis I put on team work, and my adequate level of communication with the entire team. In the work place I have found this quite helpful, and it has helped me become very successful. The two other intelligences outlined in Gardner’s theory are that of musical and logical, or mathematical. Musical intelligence is referred to a person when they can relate everything to a rhythm, or sequence. Someone who possesses musical intelligence is also aware of the sounds and music space in their surroundings. Someone with musical intelligence would be aware of dichotic listening, and understand the importance of noise (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). Music is a very big part of my life, what I do, and how I do it. I can remember growing up and not being able to go to sleep until music was playing in the background. I find myself being almost allergic to quite. I tend to do my best work when either I have music playing in the background, or if the TV is on. While in school, I usually found myself while studying, to be singing. I tend to associate rhyme and rhythm to a lot of the new things that I learn. According to Gardner, someone who possesses a musical intelligence is se nsitive to sound, and could hear music, or find the rhythm to anything, even before the words are spoken (Campbell, 1992). The last intelligence in Gardner’s theory is logical intelligence, or most commonly known as mathematical intelligence (Sulaiman, Hassan, & Yi, 2011). Someone who occupies the logical intelligence are said to think abstractly. They mostly need to learn and form concepts before they can deal with details. They calculate results, enjoy working the mind in the way that really uses the prefrontal vortex more than any other intelligence. Someone with logical thinking is believed to be someone who takes their time to analyze all possible circumstances, and work the problem for an answer. This type of person likes puzzles and word games to stimulate the brain. I identify myself as being a logical thinker due to the fact that one of my strengths is to be analytical. Albert Einstein was believed to belong in this intelligence field, due to his work in mathematics and physics. I find my intelligence to not be at the level of Einstein by any means, but I do relate to his earlier work being proficient in the math field over the linguistic (Albert Einstein, 2005). Since English is not my first language, growing up in the United States, going to school was very difficult for me, but numbers became my safe haven. Having learned numbers at a very young age (according to my teachers, I knew how to add and subtract by the time I was 3) I find myself most attracted to professions in which analytical thinking is required. Having worked as a District Investigator, it was required of me to look at paperwork and identify the fraud, or identify the theft by finding the patterns, or the number sequence. A big part of my job was to analyze transactions, and compare them to video images. Things are always better explained to me if broken down into patterns. Although Gardner divided the intelligences into eight separate categories, his theory believed that a person does not just dominate one intelligence, but rather takes a bit from all of the intelligences collectively. Just like it could be clearly identified that Albert Einstein that dominated the logical intelligence, his work shows that he might have possessed the intrapersonal intelligence as well as the spatial intelligence (Campbell, 1992). Gardner believed that the intelligence of someone could not necessarily be measured, by testing, but mainly by teachings, and learning styles. I feel as if I most identify with musical intelligence, logical intelligence, and interpersonal intelligence. My career thus far would suggest that these fields have brought me much success, but in my recent career change from Criminal Justice to Psychology, I will most likely learn to domain in the linguistic and spatial intelligence.

Hiv / Aids And Malaria - 1598 Words

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Despite the UK’s miniscule presence of HIV/AIDS and Malaria, the UK has become a leading country within the Western countries in the management of preventable diseases, considering the top five fatal diseases: stroke, heart disease, cancer, lung and liver disease. Cumulatively, these diseases cause over 150,000 deaths per year within people under the age of 75 years old. Furthermore, approximately 30,000 of the deaths are completely preventable, according to UK’s Department of Health. Within respiratory diseases, the most prominent ones are Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COP D) and asthma, with 6% of the population having asthma and over 3 million of the populationShow MoreRelatedThe United Nation s Millennium Development Goals1021 Words   |  5 PagesUK’s Millennium Development, goal number six, is the combat of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria in all countries. There are many countries that have made significant progress in the combat of disease; Nigeria is no exception. 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