Physician participation in assisted suicide

Article Abstract:

A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine reported on a panel of physicians who, when asked whether physicians should help patients commit suicide if they were hopelessly ill, overwhelmingly said yes, by a vote of 10 to 2. Euthanasia, the actual administering of a lethal drug by a physician, differs from assisted suicide in that in the latter, the physician merely gives the patient drug prescriptions and tells how many pills to take to die. In the Netherlands, euthanasia is allowed if the patient is hopelessly suffering with no possible improvement, is able mentally to make the decision to die and if the patient requests euthanasia repeatedly over a period of time. Two physicians, one not involved with the patients care, must agree that it is an appropriate course of action. In the United States there has not yet been a case where a physician has been prosecuted for providing assistance in a patient-requested suicide. Some believe that assisted suicide would jeopardize the patient-physician relationship if the physician supports the taking of a life by compromising the patient's trust. There is a fine line between the withdrawal of life support systems, which allows death to take its natural course, and the hastening of death through assisted suicide. It is argued that physicians have a duty to provide care that can heal, rather than expedite death. The role of physicians in assisted suicide needs to be examined before their role as healer is endangered.

Right to refuse treatment, Treatment refusal

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Decisions near the end of life

Article Abstract:

The American Medical Association's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs evaluated the role of physicians in medical decisions made by patients near the end of life. Patients who are competent have the right to refuse treatment; physicians must respect this decision. Physicians must respect the right of terminally ill patients to choose their treatment even if the outcome is death, while not providing treatment that is medically unsound or leads to undesirable consequences. Patients can decide to have life-sustaining treatment withheld or withdrawn, even if it results in death. Terminally ill patients have the right to choose a treatment that alleviates pain, even if it shortens their life. Physicians should not perform euthanasia or participate in physician-assisted suicide because they should not use their medical knowledge to cause a patient's death. The impact of policies on end-of-life decisions on both individual patients and society should be evaluated.

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Palliative options of last resort: a comparison of voluntarily stopping eating and drinking, terminal sedation, physician-assisted suicide, and voluntary active euthanasia

Article Abstract:

An analysis of the four methods of terminating life is presented. Terminally ill patients can voluntarily stop eating and drinking, which will cause death from dehydration or some other cause. This is considered acceptable, but many family members may object to starving their relative to death. Terminal sedation is also acceptable, and involves giving patients a sedative that makes them unconscious. These patients would also die of starvation or dehydration. Physician-assisted suicide occurs when the physician gives the patient a lethal dose but the patient carries out the act, while in euthanasia, the physician does so.

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