What is euthanasia?
Euthanasia is a procedure for voluntarily ending a person’s life at his own request.
A similar term is used for the veterinary procedure, but it is more common than euthanasia.
"Euthanasia" comes from the Greek words for "death"and good". For the first time these concepts in a medical context were used by the scientist Francis Bacon at the end of the 16th century. He stated that the doctor should not only heal the patient, but also relieve the suffering caused by ailments for which there is no cure.
What is euthanasia?
- Active euthanasia
In this case, the lethal injection is performed directly at the request of the person. With active euthanasia, the doctor must obtain permission from relatives or the patient himself.
A deliberate action occurs with a purposeinterruption of life, and this is always interpreted in two ways. There is compassionate killing—the doctor ends the life of a patient who is suffering terrible suffering and has no hope of healing.
- Passive euthanasia
With passive euthanasia, life-sustaining treatment is not initiated or the patient refuses the previously planned course of treatment.
In this case, passive euthanasia is whena terminally ill person is stopped from providing medical care, which leads to an early natural death. This type of euthanasia is called the deferred syringe method. This also includes involuntary euthanasia - carried out without the consent of the patient (if he is unconscious), the decision is made by his relatives on the basis of considerations to alleviate a serious condition.
Where is euthanasia permitted?
- Netherlands
In 2002, the Dutch parliament approved the listconditions in which the doctor can act as an assistant to the patient's voluntary withdrawal from life by lethal injection or pills. However, in order to carry out the procedure, you need to wait for the approval of the decision from a special “ethics committee”.
- Switzerland
In the country this procedure is popular amongforeigners. Since it is allowed to carry it out not only to representatives of the local population, but also to citizens of other countries. Assistance in the artificial killing of patients is provided in specialized clinics.
- Belgium
The law was adopted in 2002, following the example of the Netherlands.Available only to Belgians permanently residing in the state. There are a number of restrictions - the patient must be in a state of physical suffering that cannot be corrected; only a doctor who has been treating the patient for a long time acts as an assistant. It is the attending physician who can buy a euthanasia kit, which is sold in a number of pharmacies. It is known that the majority of those who accepted voluntary death in Belgium did so at home.
- USA
Euthanasia in the United States is legalized in several states.Oregon was the first. They passed the “On Death with Dignity” law, which states that a doctor prescribes a lethal dose to a seriously ill person, and the patient administers the medicine (injection). In 2008, the law was passed in Washington, and a year later - in Montana. Vermont and California later joined. In general, euthanasia is currently legal in ten states: California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Montana, Maine, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.
- Canada
In Canada, people can voluntarily dieterminally ill people over 18 years old. By law, only citizens of the country received the right to die in Canada. This procedure is not available for foreigners. Most Canadians support the law that their seriously ill relatives can easily lose their lives. Moreover, death must be “reasonably predictable”.
- Mexico
In early 2017, Mexico decided to legalize “death at will”. Then in Mexico City adopted the first ever Constitution of the city, which includes the "Law on a dignified death."
It also became known today that New Zealand residents voted in a referendum to allow euthanasia. More than 65% of the population approved it. The law on its legalization will enter into force in 2021.
How does the procedure take place?
First you need to write a statement, oftenit is required to do this at regular intervals to confirm the person's desire. A special committee composed of psychologists, lawyers and doctors reviews the indications for euthanasia based on medical history.
Next, you need to confirm the awareness of the decisionthe person and assess his psychological state. The doctor must be sure that the disease is incurable and the patient’s physical torment is unbearable. It is important to make sure that there is no other way to relieve a person from suffering.
If the request for euthanasia is approved and the person confirms the intention to part with life, legalization of the process and medication are launched.
The procedure is performed exclusively by a doctor and only withthe use of medical means. How human euthanasia occurs depends on the legislation of those countries where the procedure is legalized, and on the medical organization.
Before people are euthanized, they are givenpainkillers. Drugs for human euthanasia are made on the basis of a barbiturate. Lethal pills can cause nausea and vomiting. Therefore, the injection form is more effective.
Euthanasia preparations
Such drugs, of course, are not sold in the public domain. They are only available in specialized medical institutions.
Some doctors give injections, at the corewhich contains barbituric acid. It provokes airway spasms, which is fatal. The doctor puts an injection of barbiturate as an anesthesia, waits for the deep phase of anesthesia, makes a second injection with a large dose of a substance that relaxes the muscles: the diaphragm and intercostal muscles stop contracting - breathing stops - death occurs.
The barbiturate is injected first again toimmerse a person in anesthesia. The second injection is given with antiarrhythmic drugs that stop the heart. In this case, there are severe cramps, so this method is now almost never used.
What medical medicine will be used for euthanasia is determined by the doctor, based on the previous course of treatment and the results of tests and examinations of the patient.
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