A Bioethical Analysis on the Allowance of Physician-Assisted Death in Cases of Mentally Declined Patients

As advancements are continually made in science, there is an increase in ethical issues that the world needs to address. When deciding where the law should fall on these new issues, it is important to use different ethical theories to view the issues from all sides. This is where the growing field of bioethics comes into play. “Bioethics is the study of ethical, social, and legal issues that arise in biomedicine and biomedical research” (Resnik, 2023). One of these bioethical issues that has become increasingly prevalent in society is physician-assisted death, which is sometimes referred to as euthanasia. This paper will be a discussion on the allowance of Physician-assisted death- referred to as PAD- specifically in cases of mentally declined patients. PAD is when a physician gives a patient the drugs necessary to end their life. Sometimes, these drugs are administered by a physician, but they can also be given to the patient as a prescription to be taken on their terms (Physician-Assisted Death, 2018). When physicians assist the patients with the medications, they are often given to them through injections via an IV line. However, when given to patients to be used at their discretion, they are given in the form of pills. These pills and injections are given or made so that the patient can pass away peacefully without feeling any pain (Worthington et al., 2022).