The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1885-10-09
PAINLESS DEATH.
The Practice Of Euthanasia Dis
cussed by Physicians.
Have Doctors . Right to Shorten Life
With Drug to Prevent the AE-
ony Of DissOIu ioE:-Narcotics
L: Gene. al Grants Case.

ony Of DissoIu ion:-NarcotIcs
L.. Gene, nj Grants Case.
The fact that narcotics were freely
used throughout the illness of General
Grant to secure sleep. ease and freedom
from pain. and were asked for BY the
patient and promised to him openly by
his physicians. in the event of their being
needed. TO procure quiet and painless
death. seems have been accepted quite
as n matter of course by people in gen.
eral. Only a very few years ago. how
ever, the idea of moderating the fear or
assuasing the pains of death by the use
of narcotics or stimulants would have
been horrifying to the great majority of
Christian people. This rapid and very
marked change of opinion, whatever
It's cause may be and however moderate
the degree of attention bestowed upon it
by the public. has been very closely OBJ
: served by PHYSICIANS. and in the belief
of some of them. rs stated to the re-
porter. will bring about an increased use
VI seuatiNc uiugs AoE uIstttsScu Suu
dying patients.
In discussing the matter physicians
are necessarily drawn to its logical
consequences, aud these may be
summed up in the question. Have
We a rig,ti under certain circumstances
to cut short our lives?" In one of the
recent articles on the subject by DIR.
Amick in the fi.lcis,,nf; Medical Jour
nal an abstract is given of the question
rs formulated by prominent member of
the Birmingham Speculative Club. The
statement is interesting. from the fact
that it is accepted by many medical men
rs being a far exposition of the argyll
ment. The term euthanasia, or ian
easy death, is described As intended to
convey the following meaning:
THAT i'm ali cases of hopeless and painful
illness il shOald be the recognized duty of
the medical attendant whenever so desired
by the PAL icut. 10 administer chloroform or
other ausr>tlctic- SO a> 10 destroy conscious
ness At once. and put the suffer 10 quick
and easy tss,th. al! recslful precautions be-
Ing adopted TO lnevrtt any possible abuse of
snch duty ard means being taken 20 e>tab-
li>h jeycrd the possibility of n doubt that
the rcmeoy was applied at the express wish
of the patient.
In defending the act the writer SAWS:
Ceases of this class abound on every hand.
and those who have had to witness suffering
of this Kind. and to stand heiplesSly by.
longing 10 administer to the beloved one. yet
unable Ia bring any real respite relief
may well he Impatient with the easy going
spirit that secs in all this misery nothing but
the appointed lot-of man. and that opposes
r almost iinpous every at eInpt 70 deai with
il erectuaiiy Why should all this suffering
be eEdurcdr The pat ient desires to die: his
life can 10 longer. be OF use to Others. and
has become an intolerabie burden to himself
The medical att ndant is at the bedside with
all the resources of his knowledge. and CO Id
bring immediate and permanent relief. Why
should his not doing so be recognized as
sovereign duty:
To the objection that this would vio-
late the sacredness of life, the writer
SAYS:
Mature knows nothing OF any such sacred
ness, for there is nothing of which she is so
proiigal- And man has show little sense of
the value of human life when his passions
lustS or interests have been thwarted by his
brother man. or seem likely TO be forwarded
by his destruction. A sense of the value of
his own individual life man has. indeed. sell
dom been deficient in: and. by kind of re-
lex action this sense has slowly given birth
to and always underlieS the sense. such as
is. of the value of other mems lives. But in
Europe to-day the sacreiness of mans life
Is thrown to the winds the moment national
or political passion grows hot. Indeed. il is
hard to understand the mesning of the word
sacred when applied TO life. except in SO far
rs it may signify the duty laid on each man
man who rs ever ready to face death for
Others sake. 20 save others from grinding
pain, has always been reckoncd a hero: and
what In heroic il done for another is surely
permissible IL done for ones elf. The man
who could voluntarily give up his life 20 save
another from months Of slow torture would
win erybody's good word. Why should he
be debarred from taking like step when the
person to be rescued is himself: Ii is further
NOR urged that the sacrednees of Ii e is v.o-
lated by existing medical practice. when in
physicians administer drugs which give
present relief 1t the expense of shortening
the patients life. II il is objected that sub
mission to the will of Providence f0rbids the
same principle we should submit to the will
OF Providence, and not seek to escape any
pain
DR. Amick adds:
''Some approach death with Q calm counte-
nance and Il serene mind. others are raeked
with pain and suffering. For hours and even
days. they writhe and groan between life and
death II is in this class Of cases in which IL
is proposed to give the hopeless sufferer res
spite from his agony. and euthanasia is sug-
Eested. A hypodermic injection Of morphia
In such cases would result in general and
lasting sleep. and as the irritation that ex-
listed in the body became lcssencd, the mind
would gradually relax its hold upon the sys-
ten. and its departure would be SO easy and
quiet that a spectator would scarcely recog-
nize it was going until il was zone. Eutha-
nasia IS recommended only in those cases
where there is continued pain and agony:
where there is no chance for recovery, and
the patient wishes 10 be freed from his mis-
cry"
Several New York physicians were
asked by SIN reporter what they
thought about the foregoing article.
They generally agreed that the princi-
piles contained in it were sound and hu-
name. But when asked how the gen.
eral adoption of such idess was likely
TO operate in practice. they grew eau
tious and thoughtful. One well-known
doctor said:
This matter Of allowing ; doctor to
kill patient when. in his judgment, he
is destined to have . prolonged and
painful death struggle. is very serious
one. The doctors Judgment may be At
fault. or the patient may. having IN in
curahle disease. simulate 50 intense .
pain, that weak doctor might consent