UK geriatricians' attitudes to active voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted death.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the views of British geriatricians on active voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted death.


METHODS
Postal questionnaire to 742 consultant members of the British Geriatrics Society.


RESULTS
81% considered active voluntary euthanasia never to be justified ethically, although 23% supported legalization in some situations and 13% would be willing to administer active voluntary euthanasia in some situations. With regard to physician-assisted death, 68% opposed it on ethical grounds and 24% supported its legalization in some instances, with 12% stating they would be willing to provide such assistance in some situations. Free text comments frequently cited good palliative care as an important response to such issues in clinical practice.
Clark
D
D
Academic Palliative Medicine Unit, University of Sheffield, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield S10 2JF, UK. d.clark@sheffield.ac.uk
Dickinson
G
G
Lancaster
C J
CJ
Noble
T W
TW
Ahmedai
S H
SH
Philp
I
I
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005065:Euthanasia / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D005260:Female; D005853:Geriatrics; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010819:Physician's Role / Q000523:psychology*; D010820:Physicians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017236:Suicide, Assisted / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom