Terminally ill patients who have been unable to receive the assistance they so desperately seek often resort to drastic measures such as overdosing on prescription medicine, or creating their own suicide machines, which often end in botched attempts and leaves the patient in a worse state. ... Many people agree that some palliative measures should at the very least be attempted before assisted suicide is decided upon. ... Not only must physicians comply with a patient's refusal of treatment, they also have an obligation to relieve pain and suffering when all other measures have failed. ...

• Word Count: 4057
• Approx Pages: 16
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

So, what is physician-assisted suicide?  Physician assisted suicide is when a doctor chooses to aid a patient in the process of killing himself or herself. This so called "mercy killing" gives the patient a chance to escape potentially long-term suffering and misery resulting from terminal diseases...

• Word Count: 5515
• Approx Pages: 22
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Abstract Modern medical technology has made it possible to extend the lives of many far beyond when they would have died in the past. Death, in modern times, often ensures a long and painful fall where one loses control both physically and emotionally. Some individuals embrace the time that modern technology buys them; while others find the loss of control overwhelming and frightening. They want their loved ones to remember them as they were not as they have become. Some even elect death to avoid burdens of lingering on. ...

• Word Count: 3258
• Approx Pages: 13
• Grade Level: High School

THE ELDERLY With a falling birth-rate and people living longer, it is inevitable that our community is ageing. It is no surprise that geriatric medicine, the medical care of the elderly, has quickly evolved into a major specialty. Aging is a highly individualized matter. There is no single measure...

• Word Count: 3030
• Approx Pages: 12
• Grade Level: High School

The term euthanasia is not new to the twentieth century. Even in ancient societies, terminally ill people requested to have their lives ended; though the meaning of euthanasia for them differed from its meaning today. The English word euthanasia is taken from the Greek eu thanatos "good or easy death." However today it is given a different meaning, because of the social and moral issues it touches. In the present day the term euthanasia is associated with the act of mercifully (although some might argue this point) ending the life of a hopelessly suffering patient with his or her consent. ...

• Word Count: 3506
• Approx Pages: 14
• Has Bibliography