End of life medical issues

The paper “ End of Life – Medical Issues” is an actual kind of a term paper on social science. The “ End of life care support” is a controversial medical issue. Some people believe that the end of life care is a form of suicide which is unethical in the society. They believe that allowing the end of life will encourage many people to commit suicide. Others believe that it is ethical because it prevents some patients from undergoing painful deaths. Patients should be allowed to end their lives. However, there should be should policies that explain when the end of life care should be practiced. Such policies will help people to know whether one’s life has value and can be ended. It is ethically significant to allow patients to end their lives in order to practice patient’s autonomy, prevent painful deaths, and to promote stewardship of resources.

Patients should be allowed to end their lives because they have a right to practice their autonomy. In a healthcare system, patients’ autonomy is usually respected. This is why involving patients in decision making is usually emphasized. Respecting patients’ rights means that patients should be allowed to make choices even if they differ with those of their family or physician. However, it is the duty of physicians to ensure that they give enough information to patients regarding their health conditions (Yadav, 2006). For instance, physicians should inform patients about all the risks and benefits involved if they make certain decisions. In addition, patients should be aware of alternatives to actions proposed to physicians. This is vital because it enables patients to make the right decisions. It is also important for medical experts to let a patient know that his decisions may conflict with the goals of a healthcare unit such as survival goals. If patients still decide to end their lives after being aware of all this then they should be allowed. However, it will be unethical to let mentally ill patients make such decisions. The respect for patient autonomy should not be mistaken with suicides (Yadav, 2006).

Patients should also be allowed to end their lives in order to prevent them from undergoing painful deaths. One of the devastating problems experienced by patients during the end of life period is a pain. It is difficult for some physicians to effectively recognize and treat pain undergone by patients. This is because each person undergoes a different threshold of pain. Studies show that there is no exclusive treatment for pain. This means that pain can only be reduced but there are chances that they will recur. Patients should be allowed to end their lives, especially if they experience pain caused by a terminal illness. This is because they suffer continuous pain yet they only have a few days to live. Moreover, pain caused by terminal illnesses gets worse each day. It will be selfish to let the patients undergo so much pain if they can be allowed to undergo a painless and dignified dying process. It is important for doctors to try all means to save the lives of their patients. However, this is different if the doctors have tried all the possible treatments for the incurable illnesses yet a patient gets worse (Pew Research Center, 2013).

It will also be ethical to allow people to end their lives to enable them to practice resources stewardship. In modern society many people use emergency rooms in hospitals. This is because of the current poor lifestyles and population aging in the United States. As a result, resources for preserving life are being overused. This has led to a shortage of such resources in some countries. As such, it is ethically right to allow some terminally ill patients to end their lives so that the resources can be used by other patients especially those who still have chances to be cured. It is also the responsibility of physicians to ensure that the likely non-beneficial care does not hinder other people from being treated. This is important because it helps in promoting distributive justice, especially when using new technology to enhance the patients’ healing processes. However, the patients’ treatment plans should still be determined by what they choose. In addition, doctors should not give wrong evidence regarding the predicted healthcare results just to save resources. It is also ethically right to allow patients to end their lives especially if they are dependent on other people for their medical expenses. Most of life support resources are very costly. As such, it will be helpful to allow them to save family resources if their doctors confirm that they cannot be cured and they are in constant pain (Savory & Marco, 2009).

Conclusively, patients should be allowed to end their lives in order to allow them to practice their autonomy, save resources, and prevent more painful deaths. The decisions by patients or doctors to end their lives should be based on patents’ preferences provided they have been given all the information regarding their health conditions. However, doctors should practice the end of life based on the country’s law to avoid legal consequences.