Euthanasia for people with Alzheimer’s in Holland

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Euthanasia for people with Alzheimer’s in Holland
Improvement in the health technology and modern medicine have greatly prolonged the life expectancy of human beings than in the past years. However, the emergence of resistance of chronic degenerative diseases as Alzheimer’s calls for controversial debates. Uncommon issues in modern health care have awakened so much disagreement, and so is the problem of Euthanasia, (Louhiala et al., 353).Currently, there is a lack of undisputed understanding of benevolent death. As a result, wide value conclusions have been made. Additionally, it does not tolerate moral irrelevance but sparks a range of strong emotions. As the conception is about life and death, the fight for freedom, self-worth, self-sufficiency and individual rights does not allow for inaction hence affecting the same parties in the same dimension.
The debate involving the ethical acceptability of euthanasia and its legalization are features of scholarly conflicts in health morals. According to Minocha et al. (25), Euthanasia is defined as the deliberate termination of an individual lifetime by a third party, usually medical personnel. Some people argue that if Euthanasia was legalized, a large number of people would benefit as the number of people suffering from chronical illness keeps rising daily. On the contrary, legalizing euthanasia would be the start of a greasy rope for the elderly, people living with disabilities (Minocha et al., 25). However, the decision of euthanasia among people with Alzheimer’s disease is not about correctness. Although it is hard to decide to die in my opinion, it is even harder to choose to live
Commonly, victims are given a chance to make decisions to agree to euthanasia or the rights are passed to their caretakers. According to Fitzpatrick (579), voluntary euthanasia occurs deliberately from the victims; the person is painlessly put to death by an individual through their consent. On the other hand, non-voluntarily assisted suicide refers to the patient unable to decide for the termination of death and such decisions are made by other parties on their behalf. In the case of voluntary euthanasia, the patient should be competent, request for the procedure and suffers from a chronic illness that causes physical and biological pain.As a requirement, the physician to assume the procedure should declare to the victim their conditions as well as the expected life expectancy. Further, the physician should share the findings with another counterpart for deliberations of the condition in order to reach to a conclusion that there are no other possibilities. For the minors, the decision should be passed to the parents or guardians for determination and approval.
Globally, Alzheimer’s disease is classified as the sixth killing disease, (Hess et al., 55). According to Minocha et al. (27), two percent of the Holland population annually dies due to Alzheimer, mostly the elderly. Further, it is observed that most women succumb to deaths due to dementia than their male counterparts. According to Briffa (118), Alzheimer is a permanent, advanced brain disorder that leads to memory destruction leading to poor thinking skills and inability to perform simple tasks. The disease is the common cause of dementia among the elderly, and the early symptoms appear in the mid-60s. Dementia is characterized by loss of rational functional-thinking, recalling and reasoning and social abilities, persons who have dementia, find it hard to navigate through their daily tasks and as such they completely depend on others. Treating Alzheimer’s is challenging, and it is questionable whether any action or additional involvement will successfully treat it. Present methods focus on maintaining the psychological and behavioral function as well as improving the way of life.
First, legalizing euthanasia for patients who have Alzheimer in Holland is inevitable. Mercy killing as a form of insurance policy ensures that no one must die a painful death and live with unwavering suffering. Alzheimer characterized by memory loss, difficulties in communication and unpredictable conduct. As a result, the disease demeans ones dignity and peace of mind, (Haimowitz et al., 15). Therefore, mercy killing would help protect the affected from unfair death as well as lost self-possession. As a result, they would die peacefully and with dignity. In the situation of double effect, when euthanizing a client, the doctor intends to cut the life of the patient and prevent severe pain. However, in some states the medical prescription aimed to release the pain can also lead to death, in turn, this forms the principle of double effect. For instance the case elderly couple of Nic and Trees Elder horst who expressed their deepest wish to end their life peacefully together.
Second, every individual has the right to choose how long to live and the quality of life at the heart of every problem. These opinions raise interesting questions as to the right of freedom, autonomy, and self-esteem, (Louhiala, 354). Alzheimer is perhaps is the worst associations with its attitude and evolution being predictable and fatal. With no possible treatment of the disease, it takes away the emotional and financial...