Analysis of an Ethical Conflict in Practice Research Paper

Analysis of an Ethical Conflict in Practice - Research Paper Example I personally believe that based on the various ethical principles, that assisted suicide must not be legalized. Measures to resist its passage into law are being proposed in this paper, along with active measures to advocate for patient’s lives – not their death. Physician-assisted suicide is one of the most controversial issues in health care today. It is an issue which straddles both the legal and ethical planes of health care practice; it is also an issue which is not likely to be fully resolved even with the application of legal provisions and accepted ethical principles. This paper shall discuss the ethical issues in assisted suicide. It shall identify its stakeholders, along with their claims and interests. This paper shall also describe this student’s final ethical position on the resolution of the conflict. A specific moral action shall also be presented in this paper in the hope of coming up with a clear and comprehensive understanding of this subject matter. Physician-assisted suicide is defined as the â€Å"voluntary termination of one’s own life by the administration of a lethal substance with the direct or indirect assistance of a physician† (Medicine.net, 2004). It is the practice of giving a fully competent patient medication in order to end his or her life. The state of Oregon is the only state in the US which has legalized this practice. It has allowed terminally ill residents to receive and obtain prescriptions from their physicians and later to take these medications to end their lives. Assisted suicide is a practice which is differentiated from euthanasia in the sense that, in euthanasia, the physician is the one who administers the medication in order to end the patient’s life. There may or may not be knowledge or consent on the patient’s part. In assisted suicide, the will and request to commit suicide comes from the patients, and the physician’s role is to assists in the process (Medicine. net,