Question

true or false: Raus argue that one of the biggest difference between physician-assisted suicide and continuous sedation is the reasons given for using them.

Why does Gauthier believe active euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide might better protect patient self-determination?

Terminal sedation is sometimes performed without getting explicit consent from the patient.
		We have had more public debate about physician-assisted suicide so people understand it better.
		She does not believe this. She believes terminal sedation is a better option. All of the above. None of the above.

Answer 1

True

terminal sedation and euthanasia are both applied to address severe suffering in terminally ill patients. However, terminal sedation is typically used to address severe physical and psychological symptoms in dying patients to avoid further suffering, while the patient or the patient's representatives may accept loss of control of the dying process. For patients requesting euthanasia, perceived loss of dignity during the last phase of life is a major problem. In these cases, patients may consider control of the dying process of utmost importance.

Terminal sedation is sometimes performed without patients explicit consent.

Euthanasia is ‘a deliberate intervention undertaken with the express intention of ending a life so as to relieve intractable suffering’ (House of Lords, 1994; Walton, 1995). If it is performed at the dying person's request, it is voluntary; otherwise, it is non-voluntary.

Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) is defined as the provision of help by a doctor to a competent patient who has formed a desire to end his or her life (Walton, 1995). In PAS, the physician provides the necessary knowledge and means (equipment, drugs) but the act is completed by the patient. It is similarly a deliberate act with the express intention of ending life and is not ethically or morally distinguishable from euthanasia.

The performance of assisted suicide by persons other than physicians, as occurs in Switzerland, is ethically and morally equivalent to PAS.