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gnifyus, what is your medical background? I agree that there are cases when you can "get a better pain doctor", however there are many cases when pt's have to take so much pain medicine to function that it keeps them from functioning mentally. There are also many circumstances where depression cannot be managed despite many efforts.
The questions is really a question of quality of life. Have you ever known anyone with a seriously debilitating pathology, say ALS? If so, then you might find that sometimes there are not "happier outcomes". There are also many elderly who feel just as trapped for whatever reason, be it illness or social isolation.
All religious debate aside, if someone has no quality of life and feels as though they are simply a drain on society then should they be allowed this option? How do we decide who is allowed to have PAS and who isn't? In the hospital all a pt has to do is say, "I don't want to be resuscitated" and a doctor documents it and they are allowed to die. Why aren't they allowed to ask for it before it gets to that point?
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RE: Legalization depends on how much it is a legal issue
Oh I don't know...say you are in a lot of pain and there is no treatment. So either you die now or you'll live for years with a lot of pain.<<
Pain is something that in today’s modern day medicine can in almost all cases be controlled, or alleviated. If a person is in constant pain to the point that they feel they want to die, what they need is a better pain doctor, not assisted suicide. The majority of patients who desire death are typically depressed, and depression is also an ailment that is typically treatable by means other than suicide. Suicidal tendencies due to depression for whatever reason are usually a cry for help, and making it too easy to simply end one’s life might eventually lead to tragedies that could have had a happier outcome.
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