Bureaucratizing suicide.
Although helpful in many ways, the Guidelines for Assessing Mental Capacity and Impaired Judgment fall short in 3 areas. First, the term capacity is poorly defined and explicated. Second, the inevitable role of the evaluator's own values is given short shrift. Finally, the Guidelines rely too heavily on lists and formal test without guidance about what is most important. This failure threatens to further burden dying patients with unwanted and unnecessary bureaucratic intrusion.
Youngner
S J
SJ
Case Western Reserve University, Center for Biomedical Ethics, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-4976, USA. sxy2@po.cwru.edu
D006801:Humans; D007883:Legislation, Medical; D016743:Mental Competency / Q000592:standards*; D009922:Oregon; D010819:Physician's Role; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012945:Social Values; D017236:Suicide, Assisted / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology