Why I Support Mercy Killing

  breadcrumb arrow   Rahul's Essays   breadcrumb arrow   Why I Support Mercy Killing

By Rahul Gladwin

Back in the old days, dying was relatively simple. Patients with untreatable illnesses opted to stay at home and live the rest of their days under hospice care. These patients wanted to live their end days comfortably surrounded by friends and family and die in their own beds. Today, however, dying has become a complicated issue with the help of machines. Some people are coming up different ways of defining a "good death." Is a good death similar to the one in old days? Or is a good death equivalent to be heaving out the last of breaths using respirators, dialysis machines, and force-feeding using G-tubes?

Today, most patients die in hospitals surrounded by strangers in uniforms. These strangers try their best to keep the patient alive by providing them with the best of medical machines and equipment, beds, medical staff, etc. Now, some people may find this type of death as acceptable, some however, tend to give up quickly and want to die comfortable at home. People who want to die at home may find their wishes unacceptable by family and physicians, who are entangled in a web of moral, legal and medical considerations. The main question into consideration is - should people, who want to die, request their physicians to hasten their deaths? And is it morally acceptable for physicians for physicians to do so?

This raises more questions than answers: Who decides to kill the patient? Is it the doctor? Or is it the patient (who is not always in full mental capacity)? Or is it family members? Wouldn't killing the patient violate the Hippocratic Oath? From a religious point of view, is it moral for one person to take the life of another person - even if the other person wants to die?

My personal point of view is that the doctor and the patient's family (if any) decide on terminating the patient. I have first-handedly witnessed the pains of a family friend during his last stages of life. This person had a motorcycle accident and was in a vegetative state, unable to move except roll his eyes and weakly move his fingers. I noticed when a nurse was cleaning his G-tube, the patient was vigorously rolling his eyes and clenching on the bed sheet - a sign of extreme pain. The patient himself, communicating only using his eyes, wanted to die. Furthermore, the patient's wife and doctors supported in terminating the patient, however, the patient's sister disagreed. In the end, after dragging his life for 12 more months, the patient developed various infections in the lungs and kidneys, together with many ulcers all over the body, and died an extremely painful death. I don't think it was worth to waste all the time and resources on a patient whose life became excruciatingly painful.

So, personally, I fully support mercy killing.

Additional Readings:

Science Articles

1. The Big Bang: Proof that the Universe is Expanding

Business Articles

1. Corporate Failure: The Enron Case

Personal Experience Articles

1. My Experience during the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait
2. Why did I become a doctor?

Philosophy Articles

1. The Existence of Matter
2. What is Time?
3. Life in a Drop of Water
4. Why I Support Mercy Killing

Short Stories

1. Voices from Hell: My Experience in Mussoorie, India

Religious Articles

1. One Powerful Prayer written by an Anonymous Author

Internet/Technology Articles

1. How to Stop Feedback Form & Guestbook Spam
2. How To Optimize Your Web Server

Product Reviews:

1. Review of the HMT Janata Hindi Dial wrist watch
2. Review of eBoundhost VPS hosting
3. Review of Delta Roma Imperiale Fountain Pen

Miscellaneous Stuff

1. Body-Mass-Index, Waist-to-Height Ratio, Body Fat, Basal Metabolic Rate Calculator
2. Pictures of old Kuwaiti Dinars
3. My First Computer - Pentium with Windows 95
4. Why is it hard to find Christian husbands?
5. Video of American Robin feeding her chicks
6. Signs you're being married to for Green Card
7. Micron to Grit Conversion Calculator
8. Grit to Micron Conversion Calculator

Guest Articles

1. Tips For People With Disabilities Who Are Ready To Run For Office
2. How Employers Can Use Technology to Support Employees With Disabilities
3. Rebuilding Your Medical Practice After a Setback

Random Pages:

The Big Bang: Proof that the Universe is Expanding Review of Delta Roma Imperiale Fountain Pen
Video of me playing Yanni`s "Nightingale" Notes on Nervous Tissue
Notes on Chest Wall Notes on Prenatal Infections
Notes on Amino Acids, Proteins, Enzymes What are the most common causes of aortic stenosis?
Significance of Glycosylated Hemoblogin (HbA1c) Notes on Functions of the Liver
Notes on Basic Gastrointestinal Physiology The Existence of Matter
My First Computer - Pentium with Windows 95 What is an ELEK`s Test?
Why did I decide to become a doctor? Medical School Admissions Essay Video: Titanic Piano Theme: The Portrait
Corporate Failure: The Enron Case My Experience during the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait
USMLE Blood Lab Values Regulation of Heart Rate by Autonomic Nervous System
Images of Antibodies Rahul`s Piano Music MP3 Collection
Notes on Integument Differentiation and Anatomy of a Blastocyst
Notes on Cell Components Notes on Nervous Tissue
Voices from Hell: My Experience in Mussoorie, India Video of Cardiology Examination in a Clinical Setting

Please Do Not Reproduce This Page

This page is written by Rahul Gladwin. Please do not duplicate the contents of this page in whole or part, in any form, without prior written permission.