The opponents proclaim that not all patients react favorably to pain medication and may not be relieved of their pain and suffering. Dr. Walter Sacket, a medical doctor who was elected as a Florida State Representative, believes that the advances in medicine and technology are costly and inhumane (Ekland-Olson & Aseltine 19). When in office he was an active advocate of, "the right to die." Through his own experience he believed that the advances in medicine in many cases inhumanely prolonged suffering and life, (Ekland-Olson & Aseltine 21). .
Until the 1990's when the informed consent was brought into policy, patients did not have a choice as to what treatment they were to receive. They arrived at the hospital and were given the care doctors and surgeons deemed necessary to give them the best chance at surviving. The informed consent allows patients the right to have that doctor or surgeon explain the procedure they are going to undergo. They are informed of the desired outcome, the possible consequences of not having a procedure done, the possible adverse reactions to the procedure, what to expect and are given the chance to ask questions to ensure their understanding. They are also given the right to refuse treatment. The patient, the doctor and a witness sign the consent form before the procedure is performed. When a patient is unable to make the decision on their own due to unconsciousness or other incapacitation the next of kin, or their appointed healthcare advocate make the decisions for them ("Assisted Suicide"). .
The cost of keeping someone alive at the end stage of their life is insanely expensive. In 2008, Medicare paid fifty-billion dollars for the doctor and hospital bills alone to keep patients alive for the last two months of their lives. That amounts to approximately fifty-thousand dollars to maintain a patient's life for two months. The average cost of one day in intensive care is roughly ten-thousand dollars (The Cost of Dying 2009).
