Physician-assisted death: progress or peril?
Physician-assisted death poses a unique challenge to those devoted to the understanding and prevention of suicide. Though suicide driven by desperation that could be relieved must be prevented whenever possible, our responsibilities to those who are seeking death as a last resort to escape intolerable, unrelievable suffering are less clear. We currently acknowledge that requests to stop life-sustaining therapy can be rational, but we delegitimize the potential rationality of similar requests made by patients who have no such treatment to stop. Though modern palliative methods can ameliorate much of the suffering that accompanies dying, there are still some cases where disintegration and humiliation of the person occurs before death in spite of our best efforts. This manuscript explores a range of personal stories of unrelieved suffering experienced by incurably ill patients who have no escape other than death, and considers potential physician responses.
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Program for Biopsychosocial Studies, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, New York, USA.
D000368:Aged; D032981:Dehumanization; D034723:Double Effect Principle; D004989:Ethics; D006738:Hospices / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D016365:Liability, Legal; D008020:Life Support Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D028723:Personhood; D010819:Physician's Role; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011788:Quality of Life; D012297:Right to Die / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D013405:Suicide / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000523:psychology; D017236:Suicide, Assisted / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D028761:Withholding Treatment; D000092864:Suicide Prevention