My professor provided me with an article about a physician, Dr. Goodman, who advocated for assisted suicide. This physician made it possible for a bill to pass in which doctors are now allowed to "speed-up" the process of dying for a terminally ill patient with a prognosis of 6 months or less. The law passed in Oregon as the Death with Dignity law. Dr. Goodman used this law to end his life after being diagnosed with a rare brain disease. In the article, Dr. Goodman expresses that having control over his death allowed him not to feel any fear of dying. The doctor also expresses that it was more difficult than he anticipated to use the law to end his own life. The law is effective in both Washington and Montana. Over 500 people in those two states have used the law to end their life. 


My reflection on the article was tricky. I don't disagree with Dr. Goodman's actions for ending his life, or for advocating a law for terminally ill patients to face their death in a different manner. I would be hard to say what I would do if I were in Dr. Goodman's shoes. I certainly do not believe in assisting in deaths, however, these patients were already going to die. It is almost "nice", for a lack of better word", that terminally ill patients in Washington and Montana have the choice to have a "better" form of dying. I also found it interesting that Dr. Goodman stated that having control over his death made it easier for him to accept it. Again, I'm not in that situation, but I can definitely understand what Dr. Goodman meant by that statement. I imagine that accepting that a terminal illness will be the cause of one's death must be tough on its own. It must be equally as tough to not know when one's death will come. For those patients who can use this law, they will leave their families without leaving any loose ends. Undoubtedly, I understand Dr. Goodman's reason's for advocating for such law to have passed. However, there is also a very tricky aspect to all of this. In my personal experience, a doctor can give a prognosis but it doesn't mean that it is accurate. 


This is my personal story of a wrongful prognosis. I met my fiancee's grandma about six years ago. Grandma suffered from COPD and Asthma (along with several other things) and was for the most part very stable. When I met grandma, It had been two years since she was given a prognosis of no more than a year to live due to the severity of her condition. Shortly after meeting grandma, she was given another prognosis, by a different doctor, of no more than three months to live. Surprisingly, grandma lived for another several years before passing away two months ago. In the last years we had with grandma, my fiancee and I were able to bond and enjoy grandma in a different manner. 


If this Death with Dignity law were to have passed in Florida at the time that Grandma was told she would die in three months... my fiancee and I would have missed out on the time we had with grandma. I understand that some people need this law in order to face their time of death with a little less fear. Still, what if the prognosis is wrong? I guess this is just one of those stories that are meant to leave you thinking...

Here is the article about Dr. Goodman
http://www.npr.org/2012/03/12/148459270/assisted-suicide-advocate-uses-law-to-end-his-life