Euthanasia

Euthanasia/ Mercy KillingPsychology Assignment

Name Of members

• Caralise• Payal• Tej • Sailee• Deepak

What is Euthanasia?

• It is the act or practice of ending the life of a person either by lethal injection or the suspension of medical treatment

• Because of this, many view euthanasia as simply bringing relief by alleviating pain and suffering. The word has also been applied to situations when a decision is made to refrain from exercising "heroic" measures in an end-of-life situation.

Types Of Euthanasia?

• Active euthanasia• Passive euthanasia• Voluntary euthanasia• Involuntary euthanasia• Indirect euthanasia• Assisted suicide

Active Euthanasia

To end a person's life by use of drugs, whether by oneself or with the aid of a physician.• Active euthanasia is when death is brought

about by an act - for example when a person is killed by being given an overdose of pain-killers.

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Passive euthanasia is when death is brought about by an omission - i.e. when someone lets the person die. This can be by withdrawing or withholding treatment• Withdrawing treatment:

for example, switching off a machine that is keeping a person alive, so that they die of their disease.

• Withholding treatment: for example, not carrying out surgery that will extend life for a short time.

Voluntary Euthanasia

Voluntary euthanasia is committed with the willing and autonomous cooperation of the subject. This means that the subject is free from direct or indirect pressure from others.

Involu

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Non-voluntary euthanasia occurs when the person is unconscious or otherwise unable to make a meaningful choice between living and dying, and an appropriate person takes the decision on their behalf.

• Involuntary euthanasia occurs when the person who dies chooses life and is killed anyway. This is usually called murder, but it is possible to imagine cases where the killing would count as being for the benefit of the person who dies.

Indirect euthanasia

• This means providing treatment (usually to reduce pain) that has the side effect of speeding the patient's death.

• Since the primary intention is not to kill, this is seen by some people (but not all) as morally acceptable.

• A justification along these lines is formally called the doctrine of double effect.

Physician Assisted Suicide

This usually refers to cases where the person who is going to die needs help to kill themselves and asks for it. It may be something as simple as getting drugs for the person and putting those drugs within their reach.

Facts About Euthanasia

• The term Euthanasia originated from the Greek word for "good death.“

• In classical Athens, city magistrates kept a supply of poison for anyone who wished to die

• Euthanasia is legal in three countries worldwide: Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands.

• Physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia are legal and widely practiced in the Netherlands where: About 9% of all deaths were a result of physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia in 1990.

• A 2003 study appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine found that 11 percent of physicians surveyed (1,902 total) would, under certain circumstances, be willing to hasten a patient's death by prescribing medication, and that 7 percent would administer a lethal injection, despite both acts being illegal at the time of the survey.

Drugs Used

Drugs Used- Potassium Chloride

Pro’s of Euthanasia

• Everyone has a right to decide when their life should end.

• If the quality of life has become so bad, a person may feel too much physical or emotional pain.

• Today’s hospitals are overcrowded and have too many patients. Some argue that they should let those die that do not have a chance of living on. In that way there could be more room for patients with diseases that can be cured.

Reason’s against Euthanasia

• Doctors have a problem with euthanasia because they have sworn an oath that does not allow them to take part in the killing of people.

• Sometimes it is not clear if an ill person really wants to die. Euthanasia should only take place if someone really wants it or if they understand how ill they are.

Euthanasia and Religion

Many religions think that euthanasia is immoral. Some religions regard it as a type of murder.

• The official Roman Catholic Church is against euthanasia and says it is a crime. Protestants, on the other side, take a more liberal view.

• Hindus think that, even though helping a person end a painful life may be good, it interferes with the cycle of death and rebirth.

• In Islam all forms of euthanasia are forbidden.• In Japan more than half of all Shintoists think

that you should be allowed to help a person die if they ask for it.

Aruna Shanbaug Case

WHO? Aruna ShanbaugINCIDENT? Aruna Shaunbsug was a nurse working at the KEM Hospital in Mumbai on 27 November 1973 when she was strangled and sodomized by Sohanlal Walmiki, a sweeper. During the attack she was strangled with a chain, and the deprivation of oxygen.AFTER AFFECT? The lack of oxygen put her in a vegetative state. She has been treated at KEM since the incident and is kept alive by feeding tube.

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Case

THE COURT CASE: On behalf of Aruna, her friend Pinki Virani, a social activist, filed a petition in the Supreme Court arguing that the "continued existence of Aruna is in violation of her right to live in dignity". The Supreme Court made its decision on 7 March 2011.[5] The court rejected the plea to discontinue Aruna's life support but issued a set of broad guidelines legalising passive euthanasia in India. The Supreme Court's decision to reject the discontinuation of Aruna's life support was based on the fact the hospital staff who treat and take care of her did not support euthanizing her.

Jacob "Jack" Kevorkian commonly known as "Dr. Death", was an American pathologist, euthanasia activist, painter, author, composer and instrumentalist. He is best known for publicly championing a terminal patient's right to die via physician-assisted suicide; he claimed to have assisted at least 130 patients to that end. He famously said, "dying is not a crime".[3]• In 1999, Kevorkian was arrested and tried for his direct role in a

case of voluntary euthanasia. He was convicted of second-degree murder and served eight years of a 10-to-25-year prison sentence. He was released on parole on June 1, 2007, on condition he would not offer suicide advice to any other person.[4]

• He quoted - My aim in helping the patient was not to cause death. My aim was to end suffering. It's got to be decriminalized.

Jaco

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nOne particular case that brought the doctor into the limelight was the videotaped death of Thomas W. Hyde Jr., a 30-year-old Michigan resident with a wife and baby daughter. Mr. Hyde struggled daily with Lou Gehrig’s disease, a.k.a. amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is a degenerative neurological disorder. By the time he sought the assistance of Dr. Kevorkian, Hyde was paralyzed and could no longer swallow by his own facility. Suctioning was needed to keep him from choking to death on his own saliva

Jacob "Jack" Kevorkian

• The doctor rigged an elaborate system to assist Hyde in ending his life. A tube, with one end connected to a tank of carbon monoxide and the other to a respirator mask that cover his nose and mouth, was fitted with a paperclip that cut the flow of gas. The end of a string was attached to the paperclip and the other end was given to Hyde. With a simple jerk of his hand, the clip flung loose, releasing the lethal gas that penetrated his lungs. He was dead within twenty minutes.

Jacob "Jack" Kevorkian

• Although the case was brought to trial, a jury found Kevorkian not guilty. The decision to exonerate the doctor seemed to reside on the grounds that his actions were motivated by compassion and that he additionally acted according to local law that provided for a patient’s pain relief

The Belgium Twin Case

• Deaf twins who discovered they were going blind and would never see each other again are euthanized in Belgian hospital

• Identical twin brothers euthanised by doctors in unique Belgium case

• Twins, who were born deaf, made decision after learning they would go blind

• The brothers, who spent their lives together, were unable to bear the thought of never seeing each other again


• The brothers, who spent their lives together, were unable to bear the thought of never seeing each other again In Belgium, some 1,133 cases of euthanasia - mostly for terminal cancer - were recorded in 2011, about one per cent of all deaths in the country, according to official figures.

• But this case was unusual as neither twin was suffering extreme physical pain or was terminally ill.


• The two brothers, who have not been named but were pictured on Belgian television, both worked as cobblers and shared a flat together, The Telegraph has reported.

• David Dufour, the doctor who presided over the euthanasia, told RTL television news the twins had taken the decision in 'full conscience'.

• He said they were 'very happy' and it had was a 'relief' to see the end of their suffering.

• 'They had a cup of coffee in the hall, it went well and a rich conversation,' Mr Dufour said.

• 'Then the separation from their parents and brother was very serene and beautiful.

• 'At the last there was a little wave of their hands and then they were Belgium was the second country in the world after the Netherlands to legalise euthanasia in 2002 but it currently applies only to people over the age of 18.


• Other jurisdictions where it is permitted include Luxembourg and the U.S. state of Oregon.

• Just days after the twins were killed Belgium's ruling Socialists tabled a legal amendment which would allow the euthanasia of children and Alzheimer's sufferers.

• The draft legislation calls for 'the law to be extended to minors if they are capable of discernment or affected by an incurable illness or suffering that we cannot alleviate.'

• The proposed changes are likely to be approved by other parties, although no date has yet been put forward for a parliamentary debate.gone.'

Thank You

Health & Medicine

Euthanasia