To cope with this, society can allow the withdrawal of treatment from
individuals when it is seems pointless but this only serves to prolong the agony
and may increase the suffering of the patient. The legalization of euthanasia
would allow the introduction of a quick and easy death when all other medical
interventions are meaningless and beneficent to the patient’s wishes. Since
one of the main aims of medicine is to relieve suffering, it is surely a medical
duty to relieve the suffering of a patient through death. Concern for the
quality of life embraces self awareness, the ability to communicate with others,
and to be conscious of and respond meaningfully to our surroundings. When such
attributes are gone, never to return, live is devoid of quality.
