Death on Demand: A Physician's role in Assisted Suicide

Death on Demand: a physician’s role in assisted suicide

 

Maryland Board of Physicians recent revocation of a physician’s license for assisting in the suicides of his patients was the correct decision. Physicians are neither trained nor licensed to take life. Death on demand is not the physician’s role in society. Euthanasia has been a controversial subject for decades. Government officials have not had the backbone to generate a regulatory structure to terminate the lives of those suffering extreme illnesses. I watched my own mother die a horrible death from a cancer that literally engulfed her body from inside out in the 1970s. No one brought up the subject of euthanizing her because we all knew it was morally and professionally wrong. Yet the debate on pulling the plug continues from that time forward without a resolution in sight. Self-appointed Kevorkians empower themselves, utilizing creative methodologies, to bring a life to a finite point.  Dr. Lawrence Egbert’s empathetic actions, may have been well intentioned, though inconsistent with his licensed authority and his moral obligation to his patients. Many across the gamut of the health professions have the knowledge to take life but few have acted in any perverse manner in this direction. Regulating authorities are not without compassion for those who have a brief period left on Earth. In Maryland and across the nation euthanasia has been debated to the nth degree moving no closer to a solution than our considerations 40 years ago. http://www.wjla.com/articles/2014/12/maryland-doctor-lawrence-egbert-accused-of-assisting-suicide-loses-license-110188.html

 

The question who lives and who dies received a slight lift from the legislative effort called the Affordable Care Act. Stories emanating from various sources indicate those facing catastrophic illnesses starting in their mid-seventies will not have access to cutting edge therapies. Why? Government entities are refusing to pay for them. A patient with metastatic cancer was recently told by a major university hospital in the region that chemotherapy costs would not be reimbursed because of his age. Death panels no, but cost panels yes. Is the government in a sense directing physicians to withhold therapies making them responsible for the outcomes, it seems so. Taken to a higher degree are physicians being forced to be stewards of death without their consent? Again, it seems so. Society must determine the appropriate circumstances in which one can bring his or her life to an end in the face of a terminal illness. Physicians must not take it upon themselves or be forced to decide when a life should terminate. I realize many have heard these words before. Unfortunately they have not penetrated the minds of some. The debate on a physician’s role in end of life planning should take place in an open forum for all to hear. Under no circumstances should a physician act in the shadows, playing the part of “Death,” no matter how empathetic he or she is with patients in his or her care.

 

Mark Davis MD, President of Davis Writing Services www.daviswritingservices.com platomd@gmail.com

What is a physician

What is a Physician

 

Physicians are a group of people who dedicate themselves to care for the injured, diseased and or those in the transitions of life. Revered by most cultures these healers partake in prolonged, extensive and grueling training to be called the title they become. Major shifts in technology, pharmaceutical sciences and government intervention have metamorphosed the role expected of medical doctors. In recent times physicians moved from managing a patient’s problem to being managed themselves. Fear of sanction and loss of income from a variety of sources has turned this profession into a mere utility controlled by a massive bureaucracy. As a result the glamour and prestige of the practitioner has evaporated leaving vestiges of a career many sought yet few could obtain. Preparation takes a minimum of 11 years before one can enter the realm of practice. In some specialties 14 years or more are required before the student is able to rise above that title. When let loose on society the newly minted physician must face an array of challenges not considered on the very first day of medical school. Medical boards, with twisted agendas, to keep the newly stamped licensee in line will bring much sorry to those who transgress these politically motivated administrative authorities. Lawyers will target them indiscriminately to move up the food chain leaving an indelible mark during the process. Long hours, extreme patient demands, onerous regulatory structure and a system at war with the practitioner await those who dare step into the medical arena. In 2014 it is projected that 300 physicians will commit suicide. Depression, driven by factors enumerated in this text, has brought these physicians to the brink. Thousands of physicians have bailed on the profession to safer harbors, more will follow as Obamacare is fully implemented. With the incipience of the Patient Protection and Affordability Care Act, in March of 2010, physicians and other health care workers became indentured servants to a massive body of regulations that re-fabricated the medical industry. To answer ‘what is a physician’ one must review the transitions now occurring throughout the system. This person is a shadow of his colleagues from decades past who lost individuality to groupthink and is a puppet of his taskmasters.

 

Mark Davis, MD President of Healthnets Review Services and Davis Book Reviews.

www.healthnetsreviewservices.com platomd@gmail.com

Dr. Davis’ latest book, Obamacare: Dead on Arrival, A Prescription for Disaster.