Euthanasia is a word derived from the Greek word ‘euthanatos’ which means easy death. Euthanasia refers to the act of ending an individual’s life by their medical team to end prolonged suffering and in many countries it is an illegal act which carries jail time should it occur. Euthanasia is usually carried out by the patient or in the case of terminally ill patients, it’s a choice made by their relatives, medical team or in some cases the court.

There are several ethical dilemmas surrounding the practice of euthanasia and this together with the implications or effect on a physiotherapist will be discussed in this ethical piece.

According to an article by BBC, euthanasia raises several moral/ethical dilemmas or questions such as is it just to end the life of a patient who is terminally ill and is in severe pain and suffering; under what circumstances would the practice of euthanasia be justifiable or if it may be justified at all, and is there an ethical differentiation on whether it is justifiable to kill someone in comparison to euthanasia. BBC goes on to state that in the UK and Netherlands less than a third of requests for euthanasia are as a result of severe pain.

In the South African context, the choice of the South African High Court to allow euthanasia has caused a divide amongst the people on their stance on euthanasia. This came as a result of the case of Stransham-Ford in 2015 whereby he requested that his medial team end his life and his decision was granted by the court in the Gauteng North High Court on 29 April 2015. However, this decision by the court does not make euthanasia legal in South Africa as it was a provincial decision and not a parliamentary one; meaning that each euthanasia cause has to be presented within its own context and its own merit. The polarisation of thinking about euthanasia has been influenced by several religious, cultural, political, sociological and personal opinions on euthanasia of the general public and those who seek to request euthanasia (Koenane, 2017).

In a study done by Cavlak U, et al, on the attitudes of physiotherapists and physiotherapy students on euthanasia, it revealed that when the two groups were compared, physiotherapists had better attitudes towards euthanasia than physiotherapy students. However, attributes such as sex, age, education and religion may affect individual attitudes towards euthanasia.

Euthanasia is a topic which still holds lots of ethical dilemmas which may make it difficult to make a choice about whether a person should be for it or against it. Each request for euthanasia is different and carries its own merit and it should therefore be considered as an individual case. There are instances or medical cases where euthanasia could possibly be made an option and others where it may not be justifiable but this is all based on merit.
From a physiotherapist standpoint, euthanasia isn’t administered by us but the patient’s choice for euthanasia means that all treatment which may aid their living needs to be terminated which includes physiotherapy. It was for that reason that the physiotherapist standpoint needed to be addressed. As a future physiotherapist, this is a debatable topic and may come up in during my career. Therefore, one needs to be informed about euthanasia itself and the laws thereof and how one can deal with it should it arise.

References:
Ethics of Euthanasia. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/euthanasia/overview/introduction.shtml on 19 May 2019.

Koenane, M.L.J. 2017. Euthanasia in South Africa: Philosophical and theological considerations. https://dx.doi.org.10.4102/ve.v38i1.1549. Vol 38.