[Active euthanasia or better palliative therapy?].
The Dutch Supreme Court ruled that in exceptional instances, physician-assisted suicide might be justifiable for patients with unbearable mental suffering but no physical illness. A recent report shows that explicit requests for physician-assisted suicide are not uncommon in psychiatric practice in the Netherlands. Some of those requests were granted and their medical background was described. Psychiatric consultation for medical patients who request physician-assisted suicide is relatively rare. Therefore is seems to be necessary to establish better palliative care for the terminally ill. When psychiatrists help their patients to commit suicide there is a danger of abuse and "slippery slope".
Csef
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Arbeitsbereich Psychosomatische Medizin und Psychotherapie, Medizinische Poliklinik, Würzburg.