Euthanasia Or Death Assisted To Its Dignity

Assisted dying is still an extremely contested topic in Bioethics. Despite the strongly influential role human dignity plays in this debate, it still has not received the appropriate, multi-faceted treatment it deserves. Studies show that the notion of dignity already plays an important role in medical contexts: it is frequently used by health care professionals as well as patients. However, its use in these contexts needs to be analyzed and explained in more detail. Moreover, a review of the available literature clearly shows that the general, highly fruitful academic debate on human dignity is more than ready to take the next step into applied ethics: in particular, into the even more controversial area of assisted death. This book offers a detailed philosophical analysis of dignity and how it relates to assisted death. Its audience will benefit both from the general discussion of human dignity it offers as well as from the specific bioethical context to which it is applied.

In this book the author makes a case for legalized physician-assisted dying. Using the latest data from Oregon and the Netherlands, he puts a new slant on perennial debate topics such as "slippery slopes," "the integrity of medicine," and "sanctity of life." This book provides an in-depth look at how we die in America today. It examines the shortcomings of our end-of-life system. You will learn about terminal torture in hospital ICUs and about the alternatives: hospice and palliative care. The author scrutinizes the good, the bad, and the ugly. He provides a critique of the practice of palliative sedation. The book makes a strong case that assisted dying complements hospice. By providing both, Oregon now has the best palliative-care system in America. This book, above all, may help you or someone you care about navigate this strange landscape we call "end of life." It can be an informed guide to "a good death" in the age of hospice and high-tech medical intervention.

Physician-Assisted Death is the eleventh volume of Biomedical Ethics Reviews. We, the editors, are pleased with the response to the series over the years and, as a result, are happy to continue into a second decade with the same general purpose and zeal. As in the past, contributors to projected volumes have been asked to summarize the nature of the literature, the prevailing attitudes and arguments, and then to advance the discussion in some way by staking out and arguing forcefully for some basic position on the topic targeted for discussion. For the present volume on Physician-Assisted Death, we felt it wise to enlist the services of a guest editor, Dr. Gregg A. Kasting, a practicing physician with extensive clinical knowledge of the various problems and issues encountered in discussing physician assisted death. Dr. Kasting is also our student and just completing a graduate degree in philosophy with a specialty in biomedical ethics here at Georgia State University. Apart from a keen interest in the topic, Dr. Kasting has published good work in the area and has, in our opinion, done an excellent job in taking on the lion's share of editing this well-balanced and probing set of essays. We hope you will agree that this volume significantly advances the level of discussion on physician-assisted euthanasia. Incidentally, we wish to note that the essays in this volume were all finished and committed to press by January 1993.

Concentrating on the rights and responsibilities of patients and health care professionals, Biggs (law, U. of Kent, Britain) discusses medical decision making at the end of life. She explores what decisions may legitimately be taken, when, and by whom. Choice is a central theme, especially when a person's ideal choice might be to die sooner than would be considered natural by professional and emotional care givers. Distributed in the US by ISBS. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Dying Right provides an overview of the Death With Dignity movement, a history of how and why Oregon legalized physician-assisted suicide, and an analysis of the future of physician-assisted suicide. Engaging the question of how to balance a patient's sense about the right way to die, a physician's role as a healer, and the state's interest in preventing killing, Dying Right captures the ethical, legal, moral, and medical complexities involved in this ongoing debate.

The proliferation of life-prolonging technology in recent years has made the controversy over the "right to die" and physician-assisted suicide one of the most explosive medical and ethical issues of our day. Dr. Jack Kevorkian's "suicide machine" has commanded front-page coverage for several years, while in 1994 Oregon passed a measure allowing the terminally ill to obtain lethal prescriptions for suicide, and other states have placed similar proposals on their ballots.

Providing a thorough, well-researched investigation of the socio-legal issues surrounding medically assisted death for the past century, this book traces the origins of the controversy and discusses the future of policymaking in this arena domestically and abroad. Should terminally ill adults be allowed to kill themselves with their physician's assistance? While a few American states—as well as Holland, Switzerland, Belgium, and Luxembourg—have answered "yes," in the vast majority of the United States, assisted death remains illegal. This book provides a historical and comparative perspective that not only frames contemporary debates about assisted death and deepens readers' understanding of the issues at stake, but also enables realistic predictions for the likelihood of the future diffusion of legalization to more countries or states—the consequences of which are vast. Spanning a period from 1906 to the present day, Dying with Dignity: A Legal Approach to Assisted Death examines how and why pleas for legalization of "euthanasia" made at the beginning of the 20th century were transmuted into the physician-assisted suicide laws in existence today, in the United States as well as around the world. After an introductory section that discusses the phenomenon of "medicalization" of death, author Giza Lopes, PhD, covers the history of the legal development of "aid-in-dying" in the United States, focusing on case studies from the late 1900s to today, then addresses assisted death in select European nations. The concluding section discusses what the past legal developments and decisions could portend for the future of assisted death.

"Thanks to the runaway success of the number-one national bestseller Final Exit: the Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying, the right to die has been brought to the moral and political forefront. Derek Humphry's new book, Dying with Dignity: Understanding Euthanasia, puts the somewhat confusing ethics and legality of the right to die in perspective and serves as an important companion volume to Final Exit." "Euthanasia became a personal experience for Derek Humphry when his first wife, Jean, who was suffering from terminal breast cancer, asked him to help her die. This unhappy event, and the public interest surrounding it, caused him to found the nonprofit National Hemlock Society and become the champion of this cause." "Through essays and briefings, Humphry's latest book, Dying with Dignity, helps readers work their way through the labyrinth of complex issues which comprise the subject." "Topics of discussion include:" "Euthanasia: Is it mercy or murder?" "The case for rational suicide--when suicide is justified and the ethical parameters of autoeuthanasia (i.e., the taking of one's own life)." "The trend toward acceptance--why more judges are increasingly ruling for the terminally ill patient's rights over the hospital's responsibilities to preserve life." "Evidence of the dramatic growth of the right-to-die movement." "Questions and answers about the Hemlock Society--answers including why this pioneer group was formed and what its political goals are. Specific questions regarding the pros and cons of different suicide methods are also discussed." "The landmark cases of eleven doctors who have been charged with killing a terminally ill patient or family member, and the consequences of these cases--from Harold Balzer, who in 1935 "murdered" his daughter, a victim of cerebral spinal meningitis, to Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who in 1991 developed a suicide machine." "The profound differences between mercy killing, assisted suicide, and auto-euthanasia--and the one the Hemlock Society supports and why." "Dying with Dignity also discusses the effect that major mercy killing cases have had--involving individuals like Roswell Gilbert, Dr. Peter Rosier, Nancy Cruzan, and Karen Ann Quinlan--and the lessons these cases have taught." "In Humphry's professional opinion, voluntary euthanasia will become lawful within the next few years. Recent polls overwhelmingly indicate that the public believes in a person's moral right to end his or her life when that person has an incurable disease. And with the surprising success of Final Exit, it's apparent that the right to die is on a lot of people's minds. Dying with Dignity will help readers to sort out the complexities of this issue."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved