The safeguards do not take into account that men and women are not mentally competent when they are in excruciating agony. Within the six month life expectancy, their quality of life can involve family, friends, and members of the clergy to offer support and guidance. Unfinished business and goodbyes are shared. Physicians should be adept at offering pain medication as the patient requires it. Within the waiting period, patient and family should receive counseling and given options.
Physicians consider several factors when deciding whether suicide is justified.
The final decision is agreed upon by the hospital ethics committee. Dickenson et al. On the other hand, assisted suicide is a specific statutory offense in thirty-two of the fifty states. Whether it is against the law or not, the physician should be held responsible for managing the physical or emotional pain of his patient. He should also understand the tolerance for physical pain in depressed individuals.