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Arguments Against Euthanasia And Depression

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Arguments Against Euthanasia And Depression
Argument 1:
Thousands of terminally ill patients suffer from untreatable pain. *There is untreatable pain *Thousands of terminally ill patients in pain

Claim 1: A large part of what are improperly labeled as terminally ill patients do not suffer pain, and those who do suffer, it is definitely treatable by palliative care.

Matthew E. Conolly, M.D. November 4 1989.

Alternative to Euthanasia: Pain Management. Nightingale Alliance. www.nightingalealliance.org/pdf/Altern_to_Euthanasia.pdf

“Pain looms large in the thoughts of most people at the very mention of cancer, and looms even larger in the arguments of those who would have others adopt euthanasia. However, at least a third of all patients dying …show more content…
van der Lee, Johanna G. van der Bom, etc. Euthanasia and Depression: A Prospective Cohort Study Among Terminally Ill Cancer Patients. Journal of Clinical Oncology. September 20, 2005. http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/23/27/6607.full.

“Of 138 patients, 32 patients had depressed mood at inclusion. Thirty patients (22%) made an explicit request for euthanasia. The risk to request euthanasia for patients with depressed mood was 4.1 times higher than that of patients without depressed mood at inclusion.”

Emanuel, Ezekiel J. Depression, Euthanasia, and Improving End-of-Life Care. Journal of Clinical Oncology. September 20, 2005. http://jco.ascopubs.org/content/23/27/6456.full

The Painful Truth About Euthanasia. By: Emanuel, Ezekiel J., Human Life Review

Depression, hopelessness, anxiety and the like are why patients request aid in dying. In a 1996 study among the cancer patients, those who were depressed were more likely to trust their doctors if they discussed euthanasia. Depressed patients were more likely to seriously discuss euthanasia for themselves, to hoard drugs for the purpose of suicide. The Memorial Sloan-Kettering study confirmed that AIDS patients who scored high on formal measures of depression and hopelessness were more likely to desire physician-assisted
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