On Monday's episode of House, another medical mystery was solved, but underneath the misdiagnoses', treatments and House and Cuddy's sexual tension was a storyline that was much more serious. House (Hugh Laurie), Cuddy (Lisa Edelstein) and Wilson (Robert Sean Leonard) attend a medical conference together where Wilson is invited to speak at an oncologist (cancer docs) seminar. The topic of Wilson's speech...euthanasia.
Euthanasia is one of the most controversial topics in medicine. Defined as " the intentional killing by act or omission of a dependent human being for his or her alleged benefit" (euthanasia.com), it is only legal in four places in the entire world: Washington, Oregon, Belgium and the Netherlands. In his paper, Wilson admits to providing assisted suicide to a terminal cancer patient. Assisted suicide is a close relative to euthanasia, but is certainly not the same thing. Assisted suicide by those in the medical profession is when the means of committing suicide is provided. On the other hand, Euthanasia is when the medical professional actually commits the act of killing.
In his speech, Wilson wants to shed light on the topic, and highlight it as something that all doctors deal with. House agrees saying that all doctors are murderers. But what is the difference between assisted suicide and euthanasia and what Dr. Chase (Jesse Spencer) did to Dibala (read a recap of the episode here), the African tyrant in episode three who Chase kills. Are both of these circumstances considered murder? Dr. Chase certainly has the guilty conscience of being a murderer, unable to forget what he did and feeling sick about it. Do doctors that commit euthanasia or assisted suicide feel that same sort of guilt? Wilson seems to think they do.
While there are arguments for both sides, the fact remains that euthanasia and assisted suicide are only legal in four places in the whole world - the WHOLE world. Still, if House is any indication, euthanasia and assisted suicide goes on a lot more than people realize.
Tune in to FOX for House on Monday nights at 8/7c.
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