I was just wondering what the difference is between the two. In Canada euthanasia is illegal, but palliative care is common in long term care facilities. When a patient is in the end stages of life morphine is given frequently, for comfort, but it speeds up the death process. Is this not considered euthanasia since the patient is not dying of natural causes?
2007-10-18 01:11:17 · 7 answers · asked by Milica 2 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
Morphine is not intended to accelerate death, it just make pain more manageable. The only time death can be accelerated is if a patient is depend ant upon lifesaving equipment like a feeding tube or respirator.
The difference is palliative care is long term care to make the end of life stage as comfortable as possibly, euthanasia is simply putting the patient out of their misery in a humane manner.
2007-10-18 01:45:37 · answer #1 · answered by smedrik 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Palliative Care Vs Euthanasia
2016-11-03 00:21:12 · answer #2 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have been through this. Giving morphine or other pain relief may speed up the onset of death, but that is not the intent of giving it, and the death is still due to natural causes.
With Euthanasia, the intent is to end life at the moment, interrupting the natural course of events.
2007-10-18 01:25:59 · answer #3 · answered by curtisports2 7 · 5⤊ 0⤋
Palliative care is simply taking care of someone who is dying. You don't do any treatments that might save their lives (like chemo for instance) because it is generally too late for that but you make them comfortable.
Euthanasia is when you intend to end someones life to end their suffering.
Occasionally, in palliative care a dr may prescribe morphine even though s/he knows that because of the patients weakened state it may lower repirations to the point that the patient will die, but the intent is to ensure that the patient is not in pain.
The difference is in the intent. Generally the person is very close to the end anyway, but its not really euthanasia because there is no decision to end someone's life, it just happens in the course of pain relief.
2007-10-18 01:25:24 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 1⤋
When Palliative Care weans a person off of their regular medications i.e. heart meds, isn't this euthanasia?
2016-03-26 11:44:44 · answer #5 · answered by Dennis 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Palliative Care :
-uphold life and consider death a natural event
-give relief to pain and their symptoms
-combine the psychological, social and spiritual aspects of medical assistance
-offer a supporting system to help assisting the families during the patients’ illness of mourning
-do not fasten or slow down death
euthanasia is, in the eyes of the law, murder. It is actually ending someones life albeit, to stop the suffering.
2007-10-18 01:22:23 · answer #6 · answered by Chris 6 · 5⤊ 1⤋
i think euthanasia is different because the aim is to kill, not just relieve pain.
2007-10-18 01:21:48 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 2⤋