title: Report of the Northern California Conference for Guidelines on Aid-in-Dying: definitions, differences, convergences, conclusions.
abstract: In September 1996, the Stanford University Center for Biomedical Ethics convened a conference entitled "Comprehensive Care of the Terminally Ill: The Northern California Consensus Development Conference for Guidelines on Aid-in-Dying." The regionally based, multidisciplinary conference gathered people from a variety of disciplines and diverse perspectives on physician aid-in-dying. This report documents important points of convergence, disagreement, and uncertainty that emerged from the conference and provides commentary on crucial issues: the definition of terminal illness, ensuring adequate palliative care, psychiatric challenges, coping with family pressures, the doctor-patient relationship, the managed care context, the role of ethics committees, and institutional challenges. Should physician aid-in-dying become a legal practice in California, the report will provide guidance to health care organizations, health professionals, and public policy officials engaged in local or state guideline or policy development.
authors.affiliation: Standford University Center for Biomedical Ethics, California, USA.
authors.forename: E W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: F S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Marcus
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Drought
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mendiola
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ciesielski-Carlucci
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alpers
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eaton
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Koenig
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Loewy
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Raffin
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ross
mesh_terms: D002140:California; D032921:Consensus; D003245:Consensus Statements as Topic; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D034462:Dissent and Disputes; D028741:Ethics Committees, Clinical; D033061:Ethics Consultation; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D005065:Euthanasia / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006126:Group Processes; D033183:Interdisciplinary Communication; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D017236:Suicide, Assisted / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D013727:Terminal Care; D035502:Trust