Yep, settle in, dear friends, and lets have a think about death. Specifically, assisted suicide.
This subject has come up quite a bit recently in the field of pharmacy and medicine. The PJ online are asking me to vote on whether or not I would refuse to dispense a prescription as part of an assisted suicide. The GMC is revisiting guidance to Drs. It's time to have a bit of a think about how we as pharmacists feel about playing a part in death.
There's a word which I think should be associated with death, and that word is dignity. People on the brink of death are still people, and I think in such discussions that fact is often forgotten,. We talk about our professional ethics, our religious choices, the impact it would have on us and our consciences, but I think we should talk-and think- more about the thoughts and needs of each dying patient.
We're all frightened of death of course. I've been lucky enough that I haven't had much experience of it so far, but I've had enough to have experienced the lack of control one feels when faced with the death of a loved one. And all the bizarre rituals, funerals, cremations, all of these things that we do are desperate attempts to claw some control and dignity back from the situation.
And so it is that I personally don't really need to think that much about this decision. I wouldn't hesitate to dispense medicines for assisted suicide, if it is going to give someone the dignity that they so richly deserve.
People who believe in a god may think this is a typical example of an immoral atheist wanting to go on a legal murder rampage, playing god and interfering with when someone's "time" is. But in actual fact i think it's more about caring for the person involved, giving them respect for the person they are-and were. We need to remember that they remain a person to the end- and so should be allowed the right to choose, right up until the end.
Hopefully that makes sense.
Hxxx
