Many elder professionals deem young adults such as myself, incapable of making rash decisions or inexperienced when it comes to the "real world." Although there may be instances where that can be found true, I have discovered an extremely deep understanding of the world and myself within the last twenty years of my life. Unfortunately, some of these realizations were not brewed from happiness, but I have a deep understanding on how I view the world and life itself.

At the age of twelve I was diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety. I showed signs and symptoms of the medical illness as early as the age of four years old. Growing up with depression, I have dealt with my highs and lows with the illness and often dealt with the topic of suicide in a multitude of ways. I had very little hope going through some of my lower points in my life but knowing I had the power of ending my pain with possible suicide was comforting in a way. I felt that I had control over something due to the fact that depression makes me feel like I was never in control of my thoughts and feelings. I have experienced what it is like when one endures the feeling of vulnerability. Having control over something makes you feel human, as though you still have something in your own hands. Thankfully I never followed up with the act of suicide in my life but having experienced some of the worst times in my life at such a young age has fueled my beliefs towards encouraging physician-assisted suicide. I know that if I was at a point in my life where I was diagnosed with a terminal illness, I would want the power to choose if I could determine how and where I would go along with who I would be surrounded with. 

About a month ago, my grandfather was diagnosed with dementia after undergoing a general surgical procedure. Since then I have already seen the effect it has had on my family and me. If it ever came down to it I would hope that he would be given the option to go through with physician assisted suicide if things were to progress and intolerable pain was brought upon him. 

As someone aspiring to have a career in the medical field, I want to be able to help people. The ultimate goal is to have a patient come to you with an issue and being able to provide options to alleviate whatever he or she is enduring. Although death is a difficult and touchy subject, if someone came to me with the desire to end their life as a result to being diagnosed with a terminal illness, I would support them. A physician is there to be of beneficial use of the patient and I would devote all my power to meet the needs of mine. If it came down to playing a role in physician-assisted suicide, I would be devoted to my patient. 

Physician-assisted suicide has been an extremely controversial topic in today's society for a few decades now. Physician-assisted suicide is the act of a physician prescribing a medication to a patient to enable them to hasten the rate of death from an illness. The idea of PAS or euthanasia, has been around for a long time but made a dramatic appearance in the United States around the year of 1985 when Dr. Jack Kevorkian learned of the act of euthanasia in Europe ("Death with Dignity"). In 1990, Dr. Kevorkian put his ideas to use and created his "suicide machine" that aided in the death of an Alzheimer's patient (Rosenbaum). He had provided the machine and injection but it was his patient, Adkins, who ultimately injected the deathly dose of medication. Following this act, a legal controversy took place, arguing whether or not Dr. Kevorkian could be deemed a participant of second-degree murder. Eventually, he was convicted but continued to spread the awareness of physician-assisted suicide before his death in 2011 ("Jack Kevorkian Biography"). Since then, the Death with Dignity Act has become legalized in five states within the U.S. These states, which include Oregon, Vermont, Washington, California and Montana, allows patients deemed terminally ill to forego with the act of physician-assisted suicide ("Death with Dignity"). I strongly believe that the legalization of physician-assisted suicide needs to continue to grow and be an option for patients with a terminal illness throughout the entire country. It can be deemed beneficial for patients who do not live in a state where it is legalized or who want to be aware to make a decision all while saving money.

By legalizing physician-assisted suicide throughout the United States, patients would be able to choose where they would be able to end their lives instead of having to relocate away from friends and family to a state where an act has been passed. In one case, a patient who was diagnosed with refractory metastatic cancer was given two options to end his life. He decided he no longer wanted to continue with palliative care and consulted a doctor in New York about what he could do to end his life. Due to the fact that New York had legal restrictions against physician-assisted suicide, the man had two options: to relocate to a state where it was legalized or participate in VSED (voluntary stopping of eating and drinking). The anonymous patient was strongly against VSED considering it would be painful and difficult to continue to go without eating or drinking until death. Ultimately, he had to commit to VSED because he did not want to have to leave his home to follow through with PAS (Quill). This would prevent patients from having to pack up and leave in order to follow through with ending the rest of their lives. In fact, that was one of the more difficult things for Brittney Maynard to endure. At twenty-nine years of age, Maynard was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. Upon the discovery of physician-assisted suicide, Maynard attempted to legalize PAS in her home state of California to prevent having to move to Oregon to follow through with her plan (Ertelt).

In addition to preventing patients from changing location, patients would also be given the opportunity to choose what they want before it becomes too late and they would not have the ability to make a decision. Many terminally ill scenarios involve the loss of function of the brain making patients incapable of making decisions. In that case it is up to others to decide how to go through with process of the patient's life ending. Another reason as to why Brittany Maynard went through with her decision of following through with physician-assisted suicide was because she did not want to not be able to make the decision (Ertelt). She wanted to make the decision before it was too difficult for her to function. It was important that she was in complete control of her body and had the ability to do what she wanted to do (Ertelt). I strongly agree with this when looking back at how I always want to be in power such as something as my life. 

If physician-assisted suicide were to be legalized in the United States, people would save money as well. With less unnecessary treatments to keep patients in palliative care, money would not have to be spent. Patients and their families would not have to continue to pay for everyday care that does not help the patient feel any better. Extra procedures would not be needed as well especially for older patients who become susceptible to easier injuries and require more medical attention. In some cases patients would not have to follow through with undesirable treatments as well (Zukowski). In the case of the anonymous patient from New York, during his time in palliative care, his illness was responsible for multiple fractures. This led to several hospital visits within a short period of time and additional care for rehabilitation and treatment. On top of the monetary issues, the amount of pain issued to the patient continued to be found unbearable. If deathly doses of medication were to be administered to patients who followed through with the intention of suicide, there would be a significant decrease in the financial costs if measures were continuously taken to extend the lives of terminally ill patients. 

A strong factor against PAS is that patients against the idea would refuse to be under the treatment of physicians who do participate in the act of physician-assisted suicide (Hanink). These physicians are not the ones ultimately making the decision to end someone else's life. A comparable scenario would be a salesman of weaponry, such as guns, being targeted for selling a gun that was used by a customer to commit suicide. The salesman is not going to be the one to blame; he was merely doing his job. Physicians need to be viewed the same way. It is their job to help a patient in whatever way possible and following through with the patient's desires whether they agree or disagree. The choice is in the hands of the patient, therefore; the physician should not be punished for simply following orders.

Many arguments against the idea of physician-assisted suicide include the thought that rates of suicide would increase if it became legalized throughout the nation. With the belief that suicide could become credited as easily accessible, many U.S. citizens have the opinion that suicide rates throughout the nation will drastically increase. By targeting the terminally ill classified patients, the act of suicide would not be easily obtained through physician-assisted suicide. With a law in place it could be required that in order to follow through with the act of PAS, the participating patient must be diagnosed by a number of physicians to be terminally ill and given a time frame of possibly a year or so to live. With these limitations in mind, other citizens would not have the opportunity to follow through with the idea of simply ending their own lives through socially acceptable, terminal medication. 

In other instances, citizens disagree with the legalization of physician-assisted suicide due to the fact that it breaks the Hippocratic Oath each physician is required to take before entering his or her field. The oath itself states, "I will keep [the sick] from harm and injustice. I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect "(Anderson). This particular oath dates back to ancient Greece and has been carried out by physicians ever since. With the strong stance behind the oath, physician-assisted suicide is not a supported act making it very difficult for physicians to follow through with their patient's desires to hasten death. For terminally ill patients under the care of physicians who strongly stand by the Hippocratic Oath, only certain measurements can be taken in order for patients to continue to live a pain free life. Many of these physicians suggest palliative care. Palliative care is an option for patients who undergo extreme pain from very serious illnesses ("What is palliative care?"). It may be an option for patients to continue to keep fighting but at the same time the patients will slowly begin to deteriorate and never improve from their original state of health. Pain will still occur, treatments are just provided to lessen the severity and to make living feel tolerable. Many patients are still trapped in a hospital atmosphere receiving innumerable treatments that may or may not even benefit their health. Although it is considered an option for patients, I strongly believe these patients should have the ability to determine if they would like to act upon physician-assisted suicide especially when the majority of physicians do not completely stand by the oath taken before beginning their practice in medicine (Tyson).

I agree that there are measures that can be taken for patients diagnosed as terminally ill that do not lead to the path of physician-assisted suicide. Again that is an option for patients, just as there should be an option for patients who do want to end their lives from the unbearable pain of fighting through an illness. The United States is a country that is believed to provide opportunity for citizens, and by offering physician-assisted suicide to citizens in every state; terminally ill patients will be given more options when determining their fate. There may be many people who disagree with the act but that does not mean others should not be given the option to possibly follow through with it. If legalized in every state, citizens that do wish to follow through with PAS would be able to do so in the comfort of their own state, in their homes surrounded by the people they love. Before it would be too late, patients would also be given the chance to choose when they would like to follow through with the act. They could be in a state of mind where they had complete power over their own body before it become too late and others had to make the life ending decision. On top of the idea of power, patients and families would have the opportunity to save money instead of following through with unwanted procedures that may not be successful or could potentially cause more harm in the attempt of prolonging death. Legalization may lead to the idea that rates of suicide may increase but under certain restrictions, those rates may be controlled. In regards to the Hippocratic Oath, other physicians who strongly stand by it may offer alternatives to patients such as palliative care if so desired. The thought of suicide is definitely carried out with a negative connotation but under these circumstances, physician-assisted suicide may be the light at the end of the tunnel for patients. For someone like me, I understand that searching for that light seems impossible but once found, that light comes with a lot of comfort. 

