I have a reletive (a distant cousin) who has bone cancer. Apparently from what I have heard this is supposed to be an extremely painful situation which toward the last stages even heavy doses of Morphine cannot control the pain.

This has brought up the issue of the patients right to die in my family, and I thought I would see what the comclusions around here are.

<font color="#0099cc">I voted yes in all three instances based on what I would wish for myself, I cannot even imagine what my cousin is going to have to face :( </font>

I voted yes to all as well. The last is a tricky one. Who knows what the victims decision would be? No one. We can only hope that his/her family and friends know what the incapacitated person would've done.

i think its just silly NOT to vote yes to all but the last one....if someone is dying and they know it, why does it have to be dragged out?

i voted yes for the last one too, but that one is kind of iffy...as someone else said, you don't know what the patient wants...but i wouldnt want to be hooked up to a machine if i was incapacitated for... more than a month, i guess

I voted yes to the first two, based on the assumption that the patient is conscious and mentally sound enough to voice his or her own preference. In such a situation, I agree that the person has a right to make that decision.

As for the last question, I voted no, my interpretation being that the patient was not conscious or mentally sound enough to state his or her preference. I guess I am on the slightly paranoid side, because I feel that there is a risk of some person wanting to end the patient's life (assisted suicide would be the perfect opportunity to finish the patient off) and gaining from his or her death.

A compromise might be for the patient to indicate his or her decision earlier on. But again, there is always a probability that the patient changes his or her mind towards the end (and is unable to reverse the decision due to incapacity). That is also why I am uncomfortable with voting "yes" to the third question, too.

<font color="#0099cc">I completely understand what you mean about #3 Mistral, I had a hard time with that myself, but in the end I based it on the fact that I trust my loved ones to do the right thing and not get greedy. It is something that will make me think. </font>

Tough one Magik. I mean, in my faith, suicide is a sin, so for the patient to request termination would be considered suicide. But if the patient is unable to make that decision, and it was up to family members, ack... I'd have to say if it is terminal, I would probably not want a loved one to suffer.. :(

<font color="#0099cc">That is exactly the dilemma our family is in. The religion (Catholic) forbids it, and yet what we are told is that in time his pain will be excruciating and medication will not help....I would not want to live that way for long.</font>

[ 06-01-2002, 10:31 PM: Message edited by: MagiK ]

I was just struck by another idea. As third parties, we observe the suffering experienced by loved ones. Yet are we certain that they definitely wish to be rid of their suffering, at the cost of their lives? There may be brave patients (I will not say they are a majority, as I've no idea of the statistics) who want to fight on for as long as they can... dying in pain may also be a dignified death, to some of us.

So if we allow others the right to make the decision for the patient, that person would have to know the patient intimately enough to make the appropriate call.

<font color="#0099cc">Well when I made the poll, I was assuming that the family and doctors would know in advance what the wishes of the patient were before they became incapacitated and unable to decide for themselves. I also assumed that it would be close family and not just casual friends making the decision If this is not the case..thats a whole different can of worms.</font>