Ethics
Running Head: Terminal Sedation Vs. PAS
Ethics
The medical practice involves an oath to protect the life and uphold the wellbeing of patients at all times. This is a commitment they make when they take the oath. However medical professionals many times face situations in which ethical considerations have to be made .Most of these situations usually have to do with care of patients, notably those who are terminally ill. It is against this background that matters of Physician – assisted Suicide (PAS) and terminal sedation come and have to be dealt with. Ethical considerations about the two also have to be examined in different situations. Terminal sedation however fundamentally differs from PAS in the motive of the action. Terminal sedation in its essence is not ideally intended to kill the patient. Rather, it is a course of actions intended to make the patient more comfortable by relieving suffering where there is no medical end of that suffering in sight. Such an action is mostly taken when ‘the burden of life-prolonging treatment out weighs its benefits’ (Tannsjo, 2004). The physician therefore with the permission of the patient or his family may opt to administer medication that eases the patient’s suffering. The problem however is that such medication usually has other adverse effects on the body such as depressing the respiratory system for instance. These affects usually lead to death. However, because the termination of life is not usually the motive of the physician in administering the medication, terminal sedation remains somewhat moral. Due to the fact that terminal sedation usually result sin death, the question arises as to whether it is not just another form of PAS. However, the difference lies in the motive.
PAS on the other hand, as suggested by the term involves the voluntary action of physicians, with the permission of their patients or the patient’s family, to help the patient end his life. This is usually done through the written prescription of medication by a physician that contains a lethal dosage, designed to terminate the patient’s life. The patient rakes the drugs himself. This is usually done in cases of terminal illness and sustained suffering with no end of it in sight. A fundamental difference here is also that in PAS the patient usually is the one that takes the action of ending his life. Physicians just play a role in helping them know how to do so.
References
Tannsjo, T (2004).Terminal Sedation: Euthanasia in Disguise: Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic
Publishers.
