How do you guys feel about assisted suicide?

[Little Star]

Los Angeles Times
By Tony Perry
May 16, 2012

SAN MARCOS, Calif. —When paramedics arrived at the Purdy home March 20, Margaret was seated in her favorite chair in the living room. The morning sunshine streamed in through a picture window that overlooked a valley. A plastic bag was over her head, tied securely at the neck.

A suicide note in her handwriting was in a folder on her desk, beneath a shelf with books about death and dying. She had written that the pain from her various medical conditions had become unbearable.

Alan Purdy met the paramedics at the door. He said that his 84-year-old wife had taken 30 sleeping pills mixed with applesauce and then suffocated herself.

Please hurry, he recalled telling them. She had donated her body to UC San Diego Medical Center, he said, and they need to harvest her organs for transplant as soon as possible.

Sheriff's deputies showed up and took him to the backyard patio, away from his wife's body. Purdy, 88, shivered in the cold, still urging them to hurry.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-assisted-suicide-20120516,0,7106709.story

[ZombieHorde]

1. I support legalizing assisted suicide. nt

[Little Star]

6. Me too.

[cbayer]

12. Totally agree

[lunatica]

38. I do too.

[applegrove]

49. Me too. But there needs to be safeguards in place so that people with disabilities

are not forced into the situation. I think as the baby boomers age, it will become legal.

[ileus]

2. saves money, saves suffering...

A third component would be saving resources...


I don't see a problem here IMHO

[hifiguy]

3. Any person of sound mind should have the right

to leave this planet when and how they best see fit.

[JitterbugPerfume]

4. I support it

but only under very restricted conditions.

[southernyankeebelle]

8. I kinda like the way Dr Death did it. Make it simple and make it sure the person is in so much

pain that life is not worth living that way. Then and only then I agree with it.

[Booster]

9. I agree. I certainly would like the option of having someone (a doctor) give me the same injection

that vets have given my pets over the years. However, just like the "stand your ground" law I can see the potential danger in having such a law. I don't doubt this man's story, but it's obvious that his wife's death could have easily been set up to look like a suicide when, in reality, in was a murder. There would have to be a lot of restrictions, such as "only in the presence of a licensed doctor", etc. I believe Oregon has such a law so I would be interested in hearing from anyone from that state on how well it's going, problems, etc.

[sinkingfeeling]

5. I support it, if someone desiring to end their life has put that in writing.

[hlthe2b]

7. I believe in physician assisted suicide with appropriate precautions and review if necessary

Just as we allow/encourage veterinarians to help loving pet owners to know when quality of life has so declined and suffering intense and to end it in a kind, compassionate painless manner.

There is no way in the world I would convict someone like this man for his final act of love. I'd also like to see the law that requires one to intervene as someone consciously acts to end their own suffering-- talk about slippery slopes. That may be an ethical issue, but surely not a legal argument.

[RebelOne]

23. I agree.

When I had to have my beloved Rottweiler put down, the vet said that this should also be allowed for humans to put them out of their suffering. A couple of shots and they go quietly and painlessly.

[Arugula Latte]

10. I'm proud to live in Oregon, the first state that legalized it.

It gives me peace of mind to know it's there if I ever need it.

[MrSlayer]

11. I'm in favor.

End of life decisions should be up to the person.

[Jackpine Radical]

13. I can think of people whom I would volunteer to assist

if they would volunteer for the suicide.

[Ganja Ninja]

14. I'm all for it.

I always thought Jack Kevorkian was right on. It should simply be considered another phase of medical treatment.

[Marrah_G]

15. All for it

[Lionessa]

16. Don't know why you ask about assisted when this one apparently wasn't.

Suicide should be the right of everyone. It's is our life and we should be able to end it at our choosing if something else doesn't take us first regardless of old age or infirmity.

[lapislzi]

19. Depends, I guess, on your definition of "assisted."

It appears to be relatively elastic in the eyes of the law. It would seem that "assisting" means "I did nothing to stop her."

I disagree strongly with this definition.

I agree strongly that individuals have the right to make their own end of life choices, in consultation with their doctors, family, and whoever else they see fit.

If this man is prosecuted, it will be a travesty.

[Lionessa]

31. OIC your point. Yep it certainly could mean, "did nothing to stop her" Thanks.

[Iggo]

17. For it.

[MuseRider]

18. I like the way it is set up in Oregon.

There is a documentary about it and I simply can't remember the name right now. It was sad to watch but exactly what I wish I had on hand for the time that things become unbearable. There is so much leeway for the patient and their family. It is respectful and easy and I can't think of a kinder way for people to go than under their own power when things are just too much to take anymore.

[Downwinder]

20. Better than taking on a train or 18 wheeler.

[cynatnite]

21. Fully support legalizing assisted suicide. n/t

[Marzupialis]

22. If i'm in irresistible pain when I grow old

And it's irreversible, I would like to use this method. I support it.

[MineralMan]

24. I believe that we are the owners of ourselves.

Absolutely. As such, we should be free to control our own destinies in that regard.

[rustydog]

25. 100% in favor of assisted suicide

[slackmaster]

26. Extremely ambivalent. Suicide CAN be and sometimes IS a rational decision. More often it is not.

I've known a few people who decided to end it all when it became clear that their quality of life was poor and sure to get worse.

Most suicide victims I have known are just that - Victims of depression itself or depression as a symptom of a deeper psychological disorder. The most recent suicide loss in my life was a woman, age 54, who was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder during an involuntary commitment. She had been misdiagnosed as bipolar or obsessive-compulsive several times over the last 25 years or so, and never given proper treatment. She never saw a psychiatrist until she was locked up.

For example, a family practitioner put her on Zoloft one time back in the mid 1990s. It did no good whatsoever. Borderline is best treated with intense, specialized psychotherapy over several months at a minimum. My friend gave up before she could get to the right kind of doctor. He death was IMO needless. With proper treatment she could have had at least 20 years of good life.

[lapislzi]

30. I don't think that's what this discussion is about.

I agree that treatable mental illness should be...treated.

But in cases of incurable disease, constant pain, and/or diminished cognitive functioning without hope for improvement, why should a person not be able to say "enough is enough?"

I would like the option of making that decision while I still have my faculties and I would like to go out before my quality of life and that of my family is so diminished that we are ruined people.

[slackmaster]

37. People who have mental illnesses sometimes decide incorrectly that they are incurably ill

That's basically what happened to my friend. She had a (IMO) wildly exaggerated, distorted perception of the general course her health was taking. I believe her depression, and underlying personality disorder, led her to conclude that she was going downhill MUCH faster than she actually was in the normal course of aging. I do not believe she made a properly informed and rational decision to end her life.

If we are to have legally sanctioned assisted suicide, I would want some kind of safeguard to ensure that the person making the decision to end his or her life IS OF SOUND MIND.

[lapislzi]

48. Agreed. Borderline is a very difficult condition to treat

Her clinicians should have been aware of the elevated suicide risk with this diagnosis. 10% succeed in killing themselves. I would imagine that were she in consultation with a medical professional, family, friends, clergy, whatever...this would not have occurred.

No good doctor should sign off on the suicide of a person in otherwise good physical health, who can be treated for a mental disorder. Even if your friend had medical conditions, they may have been treatable and enabled her to enjoy a decent quality of life for at least a few more years.

I am sorry for your loss.

[slackmaster]

53. Thank you for your kind words

I think my friend was several years beyond any possibility of being helped.

One of the biggest problems with treating a major mental disorder is that except under extraordinary circumstances in which a person can be compelled by a court of law to get treatment, the patient always has the right to refuse to be treated.

I know that my friend had developed a very negative attitude about psychiatric medications. I have no doubt that during her stay at the county mental hospital she at the very least put up a great deal of resistance to taking any pills. She was given a prescription for some kind of antidepressant, which she didn't take; and an appointment with a specialty psychiatric clinic, which she blew off.

Another sad aspect of the situation is that she bought the gun with which she shot herself, just 10 days BEFORE her involuntary commitment. She picked it up after California's mandatory 10-day wait on the day that police were called because an alert friend saw that she was setting things up for her death, including an obvious suicide note. The police who picked her up didn't find the weapon, neither did the people who searched through her personal belongings (for drugs or weapons) while she was locked up. We survivors believe it was probably hidden in the trunk of her car, where nobody thought to search.

Had she attempted to buy the gun after being released from the hospital, she could not have legally acquired it. But I am sure that in the long run she would have found a way to end her life even without it.

[lapislzi]

55. Sad story.

Sounds like she was determined to die, which suggests a co-morbidity with depression. Not uncommon in borderlines. Borderlines will often theatrically attempt suicide, and kill themselves by accident. But it is very, very difficult, even for professionals, to unravel the tightly wound threads of mental illnesses.

Obvious suicide note: typical borderline.
Purchasing and hiding the gun: deep depression. Possible bipolar/rapid cycling?

SSRIs will help depression and are useful in treating bipolar, in conjunction with other drugs, but they need to be given time to work. I wish for your friend's sake that this could have been undertaken in a safe clinical environment.

I'm no doctor. It's not for me to second guess the professionals...but it sounds like your friend was able to slip through the safety net by accident and design.

That is sad.

[Are_grits_groceries]

27. It should be an option?

The thought of ALS or Huntington's would give me great pause. Dementia would too. In addition, there are other circumstances that would probably bring it up.

After I read Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo I had nightmares.

[ProfessionalLeftist]

28. It should be legal.

People need to be able to die with dignity and without suffering if they choose. We have the ethics to put our animals down to prevent suffering. Humans should have the same options for themselves.

[jp11]

29. Kevorkian had it right, Doctors should do it for you and it shouldn't cost you a dime.

[Hoyt]

36. I have a lot of respect for Kevorkian. We should have option to die with dignity with MD supervision

[frylock]

32. all for it

[tallahasseedem]

33. I support assisted suicide.

There are many times where it is the only humane way to leave this earth.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

34. Are we talking about Democrats? Or Republicans?

[MerryBlooms]

35. I support death with dignity laws.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

39. I support it without reservation. n/t

[kenny blankenship]

40. As long as you clean up after yourself - go for it.

[shraby]

41. I think it should be allowed like in Oregon. I believe Norway or Denmark has an assisted

suicide policy also. Has for years. There are safeguards in the form of psychiatric evaluation, doctors evaluation and one has to be of sound mind and able to make a decision like that independently.
There aren't as many in Oregon as was warned there would be, in fact the number is rather small considering the numbers of diseases with horrid pain associated with them.

[bigwillq]

42. I support it (nt)

[TBF]

43. I think in this sort of situation -

if it has been put in writing and there is at least one doctor attending and we have an appropriate regulating board I would be ok with it. Why would we sentence people to live in unbearable pain?

[JNelson6563]

44. I'm pro-choice on this matter.

People shouldn't be forced to live out the final agony of some horrible situation. That's simply inhumane.

Julie

[arely staircase]

45. no thanks, im good

But thanks for offering.

[felix_numinous]

46. It is another kind of choice

and I support it. Ideally done with physician supervision, but if it is clear that someone was in great pain and did it on their own or with help, then absolutely. We do this for our beloved animal companions, so the same option should be available to us.

I think euthanasia is a better word IMHO, it is a type of suicide but describes death as a relief from great pain or terminal condition.

[SmileyRose]

47. It is not assisted suicide - it's death with dignity and that's an important distinction.

Too often the medical community prolongs our death, not our life. I've seen it up close and personal.

It is pure insanity that a doctor is legally permitted to force the indignities of extreme medical intervention upon a person who is dying, but can wound up in jail if they supply the tools to the same person so they can end their own suffering in some sort of dignified way.

[w8liftinglady]

50. I completely support death with dignity

I've seen a lot of patients come and go.The ones who I remember dying at peace,in comfort,with familiar surroundings,had a good impact on their survivors.I think "Assisted Suicide" is a misnomer.It applies a negative aspect to the assistance of the normal course of events.

[fascisthunter]

51. I Support it, but

In Florida all ya need to do is walk into a neighborhood where an armed drugged out paranoid lives.

[LadyHawkAZ]

52. 100% support it

To say that people must suffer as much as possible before death is just sadistic.

[aikoaiko]

54. Not to sound camusian, it is a rational choice.

It should be done with the help of professionals.

[Bluenorthwest]

56. Death With Dignity is a legal option in Oregon. Anyone who wants to know how it 'would' work

can look to Oregon to see how it does work, right now. At the link you can find stats of all kinds breaking down the cases (500+) that have made use of the law since it's inception.
http://public.health.oregon.gov/ProviderPartnerResources/EvaluationResearch/DeathwithDignityAct/Pages/index.aspx