Physician-assisted suicide in Alzheimer's disease.
This paper takes up the question of physician-assisted suicide (PAS) in Alzheimer's disease (AD), reviewing arguments for and against in a broad interdisciplinary context. Preemptive PAS-AD involving competent patients raises the further question of AD-euthanasia. The author concludes, after thorough assessment of the literature, that caution in moving toward AD-PAS is necessary. However, where PAS is legalized, it may be difficult to justify precluding people with AD from access.
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Center for Biomedical Ethics, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, USA.
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D026686:Beneficence; D028601:Euthanasia, Active; D005260:Female; D017051:Hospice Care; D006801:Humans; D038622:Internationality; D008297:Male; D016743:Mental Competency; D008875:Middle Aged; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D040841:Resource Allocation; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D017236:Suicide, Assisted / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D035761:Wedge Argument; D028761:Withholding Treatment