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Assuming there are no alternatives for prolonging their life in a humane manner, I would imagine.

And I do not believe in just withdrawing the medications that continue life...that is an odd way to put it.

I think that judicious administration of comfort measures should be used. One could give morphine, it's very painless and the person drifts off to sleep. I am not sure how they administer euthanasia though. Like what drugs they use. I could look it up.

The main factor in all this is that the person has determined in advance what they want done so everything is nice and clear.

I get my knowledge of morphine from what I have seen and learned. But I can google anything you might want to know if you prefer a link. I know I am vague about this, but it's part of my anonymity on the net. Suffice it to say, I have worked with end of life issues and have seen morphine dispensed at the end of people's lives.

Anyhow, when I mentioned using morphine I meant for euthanasia or at the end of life. Also, even those doctors that try their best to keep people alive will still turn to comfort measures when there is no hope left and one of those comfort measures is morphine. There is a fine line between end of life comfort measures and euthanasia but I doubt people really talk about that. Morphine used in this manner has nothing to do with dependency and cognitive function. I am talking about the end of life...the very last few days and hours.

Let me give an example from my own experience. Consider this patient: an 87 year old male with pneumonia. He is in terrible respiratory distress and is on IV fluids and IV antibiotics. His kidneys are breaking down from the stress and his history of diabetes. He has signed a Living Will saying that he does not want heroic measures taken at the end of his life. He has also indicated to his wife that he does not want to be put on a ventilator if there is no hope of his coming off of it. He has a "do not resusitate" order in his living will, which means if his heart stops he does not want to be revived with paddles and CPR. He has lived a long life and is firm in his beliefs and his entire family is supportive of his Living Will.

At the end of his life though he is unconcious. But he is also suffering to some extent because his breathing is so poor from the pneumonia. One thing that doctors can do is administer morphine. It helps ease the breathing and makes the patient more comfortable. But how much to give? A little too much and the patient won't breathe. Too little and they suffer. There is a particular order that doctor's give to nurses and the order is "Titrate to comfort". That means, go ahead and give the morphine so that the patient is comfortable. I assure you that some do die in comfort from the morphine. Is this euthanasia? Maybe to some extent it is. But you won't hear it talked about.

This other kind of euthanasia, where the patient is cognitively intact at the very end and asks for an injection of something in order to die to relieve suffering...that is complex and that is the issue that we are talking about here. I do believe that people should have the option to choose this path if they so desire and if life is unbearable due to pain and suffering.


Edit: fixed typo