Identify one ethical issue that exists in the health sciences. it can be one mentioned in the unit or another one that you’ve heard about (such as cloning, issues with medical research, what are the different sides of this ethical issue? what do you think about the issue?

Physician assisted death is a major ethical issue here in the United States.

It is only legal in California, Oregon, Washington state, Washington D.C. and Vermont and there are a lot of legal and medical loop holes to go through in order to have it granted.

Physician assisted death is basically like when an animal gets "put down" via medications. A physician is there to administer medications to essentially allow this person to pass away, at the patient's request.

Obviously, as you can see there are a lot of ethical issues that could arise.

The pro's (in my opinion),

*the patient who is already terminally ill and is going to die, and probably die an uncomfortable death, has the opportunity to die with dignity and calm. They'll have an easy passing.

*the family of the patient will not have to worry about how or when it will happen and know exactly what is happening. They get to say their good-bye's and a lot of times, this helps with the grieving process.

The con's (in my opinion)

* I really don't feel there are any cons to this. I believe if someone is mentally competent to make this decision and they have a poor quality of life and are ready to die, they should do so. There are a lot of psychiatric evaluations a patient must go through before they are granted permission for a physician assisted death.

So, you already know my position on it.

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