Advanced Euthanasia Directives

by Joshua Singavarapu.

With the technological advancement of the medical field today, there are a plethora of techniques which help patients predict diseases that they will face in the future. Sometimes, these diseases may be overbearing, such as dementia or Alzheimer’s, and the patient may decide that their life would be better without the disease. Thus, this leads many patients to seek out an advanced euthanasia directive. This directive is given to the physician in order to inform the physician that the patient wants to die upon the onset of illness. The directive is strict as well, as it enforces the euthanasia regardless of the patient’s future thoughts while facing the disease. Ultimately, it is the extent to which the advanced euthanasia directive is enforced which makes it an ethical issue. 

Recently, a case which arose because of the advanced directive occurred in 2016 in the Netherlands. In this case, a Dutch doctor was faced with a woman who requested an advanced directive because they were going to face Alzheimer’s. However, once the woman got the illness, she forgot about her advanced directive and struggled with being euthanized. However, regardless of the patient’s newfound struggle, the doctor carried out the euthanization and was put on trial for his actions. In the Netherlands, advanced euthanasia is legal and is regularly carried out. However, cases in which the patient changes their mind upon disease onset is rare. In this specific court trial, the Dutch doctor was acquitted, further stirring up my own personal interest in the ethics of advanced euthanasia. 

I am not sure how advanced euthanasia would affect the scope of euthanasia in general, but it sparks interest in further situations regarding patient autonomy. One can never truly know what was the patient’s autonomous choice – the one before the disease or after. This ambiguity continually pushes philosophers, public health officials, and even physicians to figure out the patient’s true will. This just shows how being a doctor is not all about research and book smarts, but ultimately about understanding the patient in front of you. Every doctor might think differently on this difficult issue, which consequently exemplifies how important advanced euthanasia directives really are.