Can Physician-Assisted Suicide Be Regulated Effectively?

1996 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 225-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franklin G. Miller ◽  
Howard Brody ◽  
Timothy E. Quill
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
New York ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Terminally Ill ◽  
Great Promise ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Premature Deaths ◽  
Dying Patients

With breathtalung speed, traditional criminal prohibitions against assisted suicide have been declared unconstitutional in twelve states, including California and New York. This poses great promise and great peril. The promise is that competent terminally ill patients, as a compassionate measure of last resort, will have the option of putting an end to their suffering by physician-assisted suicide (PAS). More sigmficant, legally permitting this controversial option may be a catalyst for doctors, health care institutions, and society to improve the care of the dying. PAS should be limited only to those relatively few competent patients who continue to suffer intolerably despite unrestrained efforts to palliate and who face a continued existence that they regard as worse than death. When dying patients know they will not be abandoned to miserable and pointless suffering if palliative care fails, they will be fortified to cope better with the process of dying.The immediate peril is that PAS will become a quick fix, available on demand to any patient diagnosed as terminally ill, thus bypassing palliative care and producing premature deaths.

Attitudes toward euthanasia and physician assisted suicide: A survey among medical students, oncology clinicians, and palliative care specialists

2006 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.C. MARINI ◽  
H. NEUENSCHWANDER ◽  
F. STIEFEL
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
Cancer Center ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Dying Patients ◽  
The University

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the results of surveys about attitudes toward euthanasia and related issues that was conducted among palliative care specialists, health care professionals of a cancer center, and first- and second-year medical students.Methods: By means of an anonymous questionnaire with different hypothetical scenarios concerning physician assisted suicide (PAS) and related issues, 726 members of the Swiss Association for Palliative Care (SAPC), 148 health care professionals of the Institute of Oncology of Italian speaking Switzerland (IOSI), and 140 medical students of the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, were surveyed.Results: Among palliative care specialists a decreasing number supported PAS, direct active euthanasia (DAE), DAE for psychiatric patients, DAE in incompetent patients, and life terminating acts without explicit request (LAWER). Professionals of the cancer center were more in favor of DAE and PAS than palliative care specialists, but less in favor than medical students.Significance of results: Significant variations among different professionals exist in attitudes toward euthanasia. The hypothesis that familiarity with the care of severely ill and dying patients is an important underlying factor explaining variance has been confirmed by these surveys.

scholarly journals “Unintended consequences”: Can legalizing physician-assisted suicide actually result in improved palliative care practices?

2003 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 213-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
WILLIAM BREITBART
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Terminally Ill ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Hospice Nurses ◽  
The Past ◽  
Terminally Ill Patients ◽  
Death With Dignity Act ◽  
The Impact

In this issue of Palliative & Supportive Care, we are pleased to present recent work from Dr. E.R. Goy et al. (“Oregon hospice nurses and social workers' assessment of physician progress in palliative care over the past 5 years”) regarding their observations of the impact of the legalization of physician-assisted suicide in the state of Oregon. In 1977, Oregon enacted the Death with Dignity Act, which legalized physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. In the past 5 years, a relatively small number of terminally ill patients in Oregon have requested assisted suicide and, after evaluation, were provided with physician assistance (Ganzini et al., 2002).

Palliative Care/Physician-Assisted Dying: Alternative or Continuing Care?

2006 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Malakoff
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Advance Directives ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Life Support ◽  
Care Physician ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Dying Patients ◽  
Physician Assisted Dying ◽  
Wrongful Death

End-of-life care for dying patients has become an issue of importance to physicians as well as patients. The debate centers around whether the option of physician-assisted suicide cuts off, or diminishes the value of, palliative care. This ongoing attention makes the crafting of advance directives from patients detailing their end-of-life choices essential. Equally important is the appointment of a health care surrogate. The surrogate, when the patient is too ill to make decisions, should be empowered to make them in his stead. No American court has found a clinician liable for wrongful death for granting a request to refuse life support. An entirely separate issue is that of legalized physician-assisted suicide. As of this writing, only Oregon has made this legal (see Gonzales v. Oregon). It is likely that this issue will be pursued slowly through the state courts, making advance directives and surrogacy all the more crucial.

Terminal Sedation: Palliative Care for Intractable Pain, Post Glucksberg and Quill

2003 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-76
Author(s):  
Rob McStay
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Life Support ◽  
Intractable Pain ◽  
Terminal Sedation ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
The Right ◽  
Artificial Life Support ◽  
Unconscious State

In 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court tacitly endorsed terminal sedation as an alternative to physician-assisted suicide, thus intensifying a debate in the legal and medical communities as to the propriety of terminal sedation and setting the stage for a new battleground in the “right to die” controversy. Terminal sedation is the induction of an unconscious state to relieve otherwise intractable distress, and is frequently accompanied by the withdrawal of any life-sustaining intervention, such as hydration and nutrition. This practice is a clinical option of “last resort” when less aggressive palliative care measures have failed. Terminal sedation has also been described as “the compromise in the furor over physician-assisted suicide.”Medical literature suggests that terminal sedation was a palliative care option long before the Supreme Court considered the constitutional implications of physician-assisted suicide. Terminal sedation has been used for three related but distinct purposes: (1) to relieve physical pain; (2) to produce an unconscious state before the withdrawal of artificial life support; and (3) to relieve non-physical suffering.

scholarly journals Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide: A Review from Islamic Point of View

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yousuf RM ◽  
Mohammed Fauzi AR
Keyword(s):  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
Health Care Delivery System ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Medical Community ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Dying Patients ◽  
Practice Of Medicine ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Lay Public

Due to globalizing trend of homogenisation of culture, changes in the health care delivery system and market economics infringing on the practice of medicine, there has been a gradual shift in the attitude of the medical community as well as the lay public towards greater acceptance of euthanasia as an option for terminally ill and dying patients. Physicians in developing countries come across situations where such issues are raised with increasing frequency. As the subject has gained worldwide prominence, we want to review this topic from Islamic perspective due to its significance in medical ethics and clinical practice.

scholarly journals Trends and Patterns in the Public Awareness of Palliative Care, Euthanasia, and End-of-Life Decisions in 3 Central European Countries Using Big Data Analysis From Google: Retrospective Analysis (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Huemer ◽  
Daniela Jahn-Kuch ◽  
Guenter Hofmann ◽  
Elisabeth Andritsch ◽  
Clemens Farkas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
End Of Life Decisions ◽  
The Public ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Life Decisions ◽  
Advance Health Care Directives

BACKGROUND End-of-life decisions, specifically the provision of euthanasia and assisted suicide services, challenge traditional medical and ethical principles. Austria and Germany have decided to liberalize their laws restricting assisted suicide, thus reigniting the debate about a meaningful framework in which the practice should be embedded. Evidence of the relevance of assisted suicide and euthanasia for the general population in Germany and Austria is limited. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to examine whether the public awareness documented by search activities in the most frequently used search engine, Google, on the topics of <i>palliative care, euthanasia</i>, and <i>advance health care directives</i> changed with the implementation of palliative care services and new governmental regulations concerning end-of-life decisions. METHODS We searched for policies, laws, and regulations promulgated or amended in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland between 2004 and 2020 and extracted data on the search volume for each search term topic from Google Trends as a surrogate of public awareness and interest. Annual averages were analyzed using the Joinpoint Regression Program. RESULTS Important policy changes yielded significant changes in search trends for the investigated topics. The enactment of laws regulating advance health care directives coincided with a significant drop in the volume of searches for the topic of euthanasia in all 3 countries (Austria: −24.48%, <i>P</i>=.02; Germany: −14.95%, <i>P</i><.001; Switzerland: −11.75%, <i>P</i>=.049). Interest in palliative care increased with the availability of care services and the implementation of laws and policies to promote palliative care (Austria: 22.69%, <i>P</i>=.01; Germany: 14.39, <i>P</i><.001; Switzerland: 17.59%, <i>P</i><.001). The search trends for advance health care directives showed mixed results. While interest remained steady in Austria within the study period, it increased by 3.66% (<i>P</i><.001) in Switzerland and decreased by 2.85% (<i>P</i><.001) in Germany. CONCLUSIONS Our results demonstrate that legal measures securing patients’ autonomy at the end of life may lower the search activities for topics related to euthanasia and assisted suicide. Palliative care may be a meaningful way to raise awareness of the different options for end-of-life care and to guide patients in their decision-making process regarding the same.

Understanding the Voices of Disability Advocates in Physician-Assisted Suicide Debates

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devan Stahl
Keyword(s):  
Moral Psychology ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Terminally Ill ◽  
Christian Ethics ◽  
Social Conditions ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Persons With Disabilities ◽  
Phenomenological Experience ◽  
The World ◽  
Bear Witness

Abstract Christians have an obligation to attend to the voices of persons who are crying out that their dignity and very lives are in jeopardy when physician-assisted suicide (PAS) becomes legalized. The following essay begins with an account of the concept of “disability moral psychology,” which elucidates the unique ways persons with disabilities perceive the world, based on their phenomenological experience. The author then explores the disability critique of PAS and the shared social conditions of persons who are chronically disabled and terminally ill. Finally, the author positions the disability critique within Christian moral deliberations on PAS to unearth its significance for Christian ethics. To bear witness to a compassionate God, theological and ethical judgments concerning PAS must seek perspectives from persons who claim that their dignity and even their lives are in jeopardy by the practice.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document