title: Physician-assisted death is illegal in most states, so my patient made another choice.
abstract: A patient in his nineties and in decline chooses the only legal way in most of the United States to hasten his death: He stops eating and drinking. His doctor wonders whether that is just or compassionate.
authors.affiliation: Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA. david.muller@mssm.edu
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Muller
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000739:Anecdotes as Topic; D002755:Choice Behavior; D004645:Empathy; D005066:Euthanasia, Passive; D005215:Fasting; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010358:Patient Participation; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D017236:Suicide, Assisted / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D014481:United States