tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425732352511468694.post1989054103989410517..comments2023-08-20T04:55:39.436-07:00Comments on Ars Psychiatrica: Grand InquisitorNovalishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10501890494890617030noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425732352511468694.post-19348326911141421722008-12-12T03:03:00.000-08:002008-12-12T03:03:00.000-08:00I neglected to mention that in addition to the obv...I neglected to mention that in addition to the obvious philosophical interest of this issue, there is a biographical note as well.<BR/><BR/>I was a medical student in Ann Arbor from 1991 from 1995, during which Jack Kevorkian was carrying out his infamous practice in that same general area. So it was a matter of both local and professional interest at the time. In fact, for a week or so I helped look after a fellow in the hospital with multiple myeloma who, I later learned, eventually availed himself of Kevorkian's services.Novalishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10501890494890617030noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425732352511468694.post-43497773065631785992008-12-11T20:22:00.000-08:002008-12-11T20:22:00.000-08:00Terminally ill patients who have the option of eut...Terminally ill patients who have the option of euthanasia on standby report feeling more at peace with their situation. Wielding control over their existence, rather than having it ruthlessly determined by a brutal and merciless disease that shreds their dignity, day after bitter day, hour by excruciating hour, confers a sense of comfort; and patients often find they are able to endure a longer term of their final stages as a consequence of this new found paradoxical peace.<BR/><BR/>It's a personal choice; and fruitless suffering with its end point in ultimate meaningless misery and indignity is a torture no one has the moral authority to lawfully inflict on any human being.<BR/><BR/>ON the issue of ambiguity of desire and the irrevocability of such a finality...well, isn't it better to err on the side of caution? And by that I mean on the side of the terminally miserable, not the temporarily depressed suffering existential crises.<BR/><BR/>Is it morally more palatable to set 10 murderers free or jail 1 innocent person?<BR/><BR/>Exiting is rarely questionable for the subject suffering; it's mostly a selfish denial of forthcoming grief that friends and families unintentionally (and understandably) inflict.<BR/><BR/>I think we're all entitled to a happy life; barring that, then a happy death.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425732352511468694.post-22096396667977948542008-12-11T13:36:00.000-08:002008-12-11T13:36:00.000-08:00If I ever have to be admitted to a nursing home, I...If I ever have to be admitted to a nursing home, I'm definitely committing suicide. <BR/><BR/>It would be nice if there was a way to do this that wasn't messy or painful. Not sure I'd want a physician directly involved, though (maybe write a prescription for chloral hydrate or something), because of the potential for creating a moral burden for someone else (or bad karma, even).Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01118011395896344611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425732352511468694.post-40228381356817834852008-12-11T13:18:00.000-08:002008-12-11T13:18:00.000-08:00An article by another doctor that you may not be ...An article by another doctor that you may not be aware of can be found at<BR/><BR/>http://docisinblog.com/index.php/2008/12/08/assisted-suicide/vanderleunhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10296245324443413545noreply@blogger.com