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Why do we give dogs a better death than oursevles ?
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2019 Feb 5, 1:52am 1,103 views 11 comments
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1
anonymous
2019 Feb 5, 1:56am
Wanting to die at 'five to midnight' - before dementia takes over
It's not unusual for Dutch patients with dementia to request euthanasia, but in the later stages of the disease they may be incapable of reconfirming their consent - one doctor is currently facing prosecution in such a case. But fear of being refused is pushing some to ask to die earlier than they would have liked.
Annie Zwijnenberg was never in any doubt.
"The neurologist said: 'I'm sorry, but there's no way we can mistake this - it's Alzheimer's," says Anneke Soute-Zwijnenberg, describing the moment her mother was first diagnosed.
"And she said: 'OK, then I know what I want.'"
Anneke's brother Frank chips in: "Maybe she hesitated for five seconds, and said: 'Now I know what to do.'"
They both knew she was referring to euthanasia
You could say Annie's story is a textbook case of how euthanasia is supposed to happen in the Netherlands - with very consistent and clear consent. But there are other cases where the patient's consent is less consistent, and at the final moment, less clear.
Annie's story was featured in a film called Before It's Too Late by the Dutch director, Gerald van Bronkhorst. In the documentary viewers follow her journey through Alzheimer's, ending in her death by euthanasia at the age of 81.
They see a proud woman who brought up three children alone, who enjoyed mountain climbing and had a strong religious belief, laid low by dementia.
"I used to go climbing or skiing or whatever," says Annie in the film. "In the village they said, 'That Annie, she's always on the go.' I'd put my rucksack on in the morning and start hiking. I'd walk all day. Now I can't do anything. I get confused all the time."
Much more to read: https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-47047579
It's not unusual for Dutch patients with dementia to request euthanasia, but in the later stages of the disease they may be incapable of reconfirming their consent - one doctor is currently facing prosecution in such a case. But fear of being refused is pushing some to ask to die earlier than they would have liked.
Annie Zwijnenberg was never in any doubt.
"The neurologist said: 'I'm sorry, but there's no way we can mistake this - it's Alzheimer's," says Anneke Soute-Zwijnenberg, describing the moment her mother was first diagnosed.
"And she said: 'OK, then I know what I want.'"
Anneke's brother Frank chips in: "Maybe she hesitated for five seconds, and said: 'Now I know what to do.'"
They both knew she was referring to euthanasia
You could say Annie's story is a textbook case of how euthanasia is supposed to happen in the Netherlands - with very consistent and clear consent. But there are other cases where the patient's consent is less consistent, and at the final moment, less clear.
Annie's story was featured in a film called Before It's Too Late by the Dutch director, Gerald van Bronkhorst. In the documentary viewers follow her journey through Alzheimer's, ending in her death by euthanasia at the age of 81.
They see a proud woman who brought up three children alone, who enjoyed mountain climbing and had a strong religious belief, laid low by dementia.
"I used to go climbing or skiing or whatever," says Annie in the film. "In the village they said, 'That Annie, she's always on the go.' I'd put my rucksack on in the morning and start hiking. I'd walk all day. Now I can't do anything. I get confused all the time."
Much more to read: https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-47047579
4
anonymous
2019 Feb 5, 7:44am
The more time I spend around humans the more I like my dog for some reason.
5
Patrick
2019 Feb 5, 7:59am
Patrick
2019 Feb 5, 7:59am
I don't know. I was with both of my parents when they each died of cancer. Neither wanted to go.
I think a lot of euthanasia is for the convenience of the living, not to end the suffering of the dying.
I think a lot of euthanasia is for the convenience of the living, not to end the suffering of the dying.
6
Shaman
2019 Feb 5, 8:13am
Shaman
2019 Feb 5, 8:13am
Life for any conscious being IS suffering to one extent or another. Whether we are suffering hunger or thirst, muscle aches, broken bones, arthritis, or gout, there’s physical pain. But just the same there’s also mental anguish a conscious being is uniquely equipped to endure! Whether it’s a lost love or a dead child, the strain of endlessly performing a hated job, or just severe TDS because you hate DJT so much, there’s pain that’s just as real and often more unbearable than physical pain.
Life is pain. So where do we draw the line at what sort of pain is too much pain to endure? I believe that’s up to the individual, as only
Life is pain. So where do we draw the line at what sort of pain is too much pain to endure? I believe that’s up to the individual, as only
7
anonymous
2019 Feb 5, 8:30am
Patrick says
That is why there are advanced health directives to indicate someone's desires as to how long to keep padding the pockets of the doctors and the hospitals.
I am opting out at the first chance when things start to go to hell. No funeral either - cheapest cremation available.
Came into the world unnoticed except by those who had no choice but to notice and they are gone now so I choose to leave the same way - unnoticed.
I think a lot of euthanasia is for the convenience of the living, not to end the suffering of the dying.
That is why there are advanced health directives to indicate someone's desires as to how long to keep padding the pockets of the doctors and the hospitals.
I am opting out at the first chance when things start to go to hell. No funeral either - cheapest cremation available.
Came into the world unnoticed except by those who had no choice but to notice and they are gone now so I choose to leave the same way - unnoticed.
8
Heraclitusstudent
2019 Feb 5, 10:26am
Heraclitusstudent
2019 Feb 5, 10:26am
What's really ridiculous is the death penalty.
They can't seem to put someone to death cleanly.
Just bring them to the vet.
They can't seem to put someone to death cleanly.
Just bring them to the vet.
9
FortwayeAsFuckJoeBiden
2019 Feb 5, 11:33am
Society is for humans, not other fucking animals which left seems to think are more important than humans. It's legal to murder animals.
10
RC2006
2019 Feb 5, 11:46am
RC2006
2019 Feb 5, 11:46am
Heraclitusstudent says
What I was thinking VA is good at euthanasia.
What's really ridiculous is the death penalty.
They can't seem to put someone to death cleanly.
Just bring them to the vet.
What I was thinking VA is good at euthanasia.
11
anonymous
2019 Feb 5, 11:51am
Heraclitusstudent says
Nitrogen chambers. Extremely low cost , readily available and safe to handle unless it is in liquid form but that is an easy problem to overcome.
They can't seem to put someone to death cleanly.
Nitrogen chambers. Extremely low cost , readily available and safe to handle unless it is in liquid form but that is an easy problem to overcome.
For whatever reason, the way I’d always pictured the proper death of one’s dog was like a scene taken from the 1957 Disney film Old Yeller (1957): after years of steadfast companionship, when man’s best friend no longer derives joy from chasing rabbits and can barely lift his head, his owner has to muster the resolve to get out the rifle to put him out of his misery. Although an oddly bucolic fantasy for someone living in Los Angeles, at least part of it was no doubt influenced by how I’d learned to think about death as a physician.
In human medicine, we’re used to implementing any and every life-saving intervention right up to the very end. As a medical intern 20 years ago, I remember thinking about the futility of that approach with patients in pain and suffering from multisystem organ failure, sustained only by machines and a regimen of some 30 or 40 medications, and unlikely to ever make it out of the hospital. What was the point? Whatever happened to quality of life? But those reservations be damned, we never gave up, and among the interns who transferred care to each other from shift to shift, the dictum of patients ‘not dying on my watch’ was something to which we all held fast.
As long as there were no ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ orders in the chart asking us to withhold ‘heroic efforts’, we rarely considered doing anything less to prolong life, and financial cost was never part of the equation either. As far as hastening death, that was never even mentioned. After all, the original Hippocratic oath states: ‘I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody if asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect.’
The difference in attitudes towards euthanasia for animals and human beings is understandable. After all, people have been killing animals without remorse for food, to avoid becoming food ourselves, and for sport long before we began domesticating animals or keeping them for companionship. Whereas traditional Judeo-Christian and Islamic teachings include strong proscriptions against murder and suicide for humans, religious doctrine questions the animal soul. And while euthanasia is used as an ethical means to preempt suffering in veterinary medicine, it’s not unusual for some owners to simply abandon their pets by the side of the road, put puppies in garbage bags, or refuse to pay for life-saving medical procedures based on both economics and expediency. No wonder the expression ‘die like a dog’ has historically referred to the most miserable of ends.
Although ‘death with dignity’ is supported in many parts of the world, often no one wants to ‘push the plunger’
In 2009, US legislation that would have allowed physicians to be compensated by Medicare for providing voluntary counselling to patients about options for end-of-life care was defeated due to political uproar over ‘death panels’. And yet, as I discuss in the World Journal of Psychiatry in 2015, human euthanasia is being increasingly considered and sanctioned both in the US and abroad
More to Read: https://aeon.co/essays/why-do-we-give-dogs-a-better-death-than-we-give-ourselves
#Euthanasia #Medicine #Morality #Science #Philsophy