Euthanasia

Euthanasia in human beings has been one of the most controversial issues since it began. Some say that it is wrong, others say that it is morally the right thing to do, to end the suffering of another when nothing else can be done. The word Euthanasia coms from the Greek word Eu, meaning good, and thanatos, meaning death, or good death. Euthanasia as defined is the action of killing an individual for reasons considered to be merciful; having morally right reasons for ending the life of another human being, reasons that outweigh the life of the individual. When medical professionals are confronted with say, a person in the late stages of cancer, crying out in pain with no medicine that could take it away, lying there waiting to do, they are confronted with the biggest ethical issues that can be created. Should they help this patient end his/her life just so they would no longer have to suffer' Should they let them suffer, watching them in pain and agony as they slowly slip away' These are two of the most basic questions medical professionals must face when thrown into a situation like this. Even some people try to convince you to take their life, which makes it an even more difficult issue to face. There are four categories of Euthanasia, passive, indirect, voluntary, and involuntary. Passive is described as removing treatment from an individual, allowing them to die a natural death. Indirect is described as giving a patient medication with known side-effects that may cause the patient to expire quicker than they would without it. Voluntary refers to the action taken by the physician, with written consent from the patient that results in the patient’s death. Involuntary is described as taking the life of an individual without their informed consent by a third party. Common examples of this would be in veterinary hospitals, putting to sleep the animal without asking and informing the animal what is going to be done. In terms of humans, this can be related to someone suffering from a terminal disease and has lost the mental capacity to make decision on their own, such as someone alive on a feeding tube and iron lung. If the doctor removes these, the patient would die. And given the patient has no ability to perform these vital bodily functions on his/her own, the patient would likely die.