As we continue to look at the topic of Euthanasia and Physician-assisted Suicide, I would like to remind you that the quotes come from F. Michael Gloth, III M.D. and his article “Physician Assisted Suicide: The Wrong Approach to End of Life Care.” They are in bold and my commentary is in regular font.

For physicians, the issue transcends state legislation. Doctors must not be forced to participate in physician-assisted suicide, abortion, capital punishment or other practices that run counter to professional ethics or personal beliefs. And physician-assisted suicide raises other medical dilemmas as well. My own research and many other studies demonstrate that accurate diagnosis and prognosis cannot always be assured. For some patients who died from physician-assisted suicide, subsequent autopsies revealed that they did not have a terminal illness! The impact such an error has on survivors (not to mention the patient) can only be imagined.

A recovering alcoholic once told me that “most of our problems in life happen when try to play God instead of simply allowing God to be God.” As much as we know about medicine and even with all the great medical advances, we in the end still know very little about the human body. I also think that one of the problems with modern medicine is that it likes to treat every person the same and sometimes that is not the case. They way I respond to a medication maybe totally different from how someone else responds. I believe that a second or third opinion should always be taken into account if not more when a life is on the line. We do not know if the cure for a particular disease is days away or years away. We do know that each day is a gift from God.

Distinguishing between actively ending a life and allowing the natural progression of events is an integral part of discussions of physician-assisted suicide. Honoring a person's wishes regarding burdensome interventions, such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) or ventilatory support neither hastens death nor prolongs life. In such situations, the public often has a misconception of the impact of some medical interventions. Our inability to extend life or even to predict our ability to do so is far different from the impression one might get from watching prime-time television. Oftentimes medical interventions may actually cause more suffering and even unintentionally hasten death. Reviews of the evidence on the use of feeding tubes and CPR in frail older adults have made this abundantly clear. What is important in providing care at the end of life is that physicians maintain the patient-physician relationship no matter what course the patient finally chooses, short of participating in suicide. Withdrawing or withholding treatments, e.g. respirators, CPR, and even hydration or nutrition at the request of a terminally ill patient or the patient's surrogate can be consistent with professional principles and are supported by the American Medical Association's Code of Medical Ethics.

The Church does not ask that we keep a love alive as long as possible. The Church though does ask that we treat each person with dignity and give them basic health care procedures including pain medication. The Church believes that there are “ordinary” things that need to be done in order to treat a human being as a human being. A feeding tube for example while scary is in many ways the same as handing a poor person a food box from a food pantry because when a person is hungry we feed them. There are other things that are considered extreme or “extraordinary” and the Church does not expect us to use these things. At the moment for example we are not expected to put a pig’s heart into Aunt Jody in order to keep her alive.

There is, of course, a final reason to advocate for physician-assisted suicide. It is cheaper to kill a person than to provide care. Yet a physician's first obligation is to "Do No Harm." Until that is replaced with "Save more money," it will be difficult to support physician-assisted suicide.

We need to be sure that our motives and the motives of others are the care of the person and not profits.

*F. Michael Gloth, III, MD, FACP, AGSF, CMD, is an Associate Professor of Medicine and Director, Outpatient Services, for the Division of Geriatrics and Gerontology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD.