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Depression

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34 views4 pages

Depression

Academic

Uploaded by

kevvndaniels
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Dr.

Kabasenche

PHIL 365 Biomedical Ethics

Fall 2024

Washington State University

As Mrs. Natsumi Tsunoda’s physician, I will not grant her request for Medical Assistance in

Dying (MAID). Nonetheless, she is entitled to personal autonomy, which gives her the

opportunity to choose her own course in life. Brock's beliefs on voluntary active euthanasia are

consistent with the facts of the case. Brock believes that autonomy and self-determination are

important because they allow people to pursue their life according to their own values and

principles. As a result, individuals can start living their lives on their own terms. (Brock, 1992).

It is critical to determine if Mrs. Tsunoda's desire for euthanasia is the result of her well-informed

and logical decision-making or a symptom of treatable mental health illnesses; this is because

some cases, such as people with treatable medical depression, do not fit to euthanasia.

Several critical conditions must be met before euthanasia can be judged morally acceptable. All

euthanasia requests must be voluntary, a dependable system must be built to document and honor

both the doctor's and the patient's desires, and the patient must be provided all feasible

alternatives to euthanasia (Brock, 1992). Mrs. Tsunoda's severe depression problem and

accompanying hallucinations may prevent her from making a sensible decision. Those suffering

from depression frequently prepare for failure, which can lead to hurried actions that appear

wonderful in the moment but ultimately injure them. In accordance with the second requirement,

all reasonable options for alleviating the patient's pain were not considered. Mrs. Tsunoda should

look for other possibilities for treating her depression before considering euthanasia. As a result,
it is my obligation as a physician to advise her on her options. In another circumstance, I would

have fulfilled her desire if she had tried everything.

One could argue that Mrs. Tsunoda's right to autonomy is violated by not enabling her to choose

euthanasia. According to Brock, if a person's ability to make decisions is substantially impaired,

as it is in our case, euthanasia is not legally permissible. Some argue that euthanasia pushes

medical providers to use that option before providing care to patients with life-threatening

diseases. This is incorrect since doctors have an ethical obligation to treat their patients with

respect and to consider their wishes. In view of our situation, I am declining Mrs. Tsunoda's

request since I am responsible to care for her and investigate alternative medicine. Others may

argue that a doctor's primary moral role is to protect life and maintain the trust and respect that

comes with it. The patient is not getting "killed." The patient's autonomy is respected, and the

doctor does what they wish. If euthanasia becomes popular among persons suffering from

depression or other mental diseases, it may jeopardize efforts to provide adequate mental health

care.
Work Cited

Brock, D. W. (1992). Voluntary Active Euthanasia. The Hastings Center Report, 22(2), 10–22.

https://doi.org/10.2307/3562560

John Arras, “On the Slippery Slope in the Empire State,” in Mappes and DeGrazia, eds.,

Biomedical Ethics, 6th ed. (Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2006), pp. 431-437.)


Mevin Jelagat

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