Euthanasia debate

The euthanasia debate.

Debates about the moral dilemmas of euthanasia date back to ancient times. Many of the historical arguments used for and against the practice remain valid today. Indeed, any form of discussion on the subject often provokes emotive responses, both from members of the medical profession and the general public. For this reason alone, the issue will continue to be debated at all levels of society. ...

Voluntary Active Euthanasia: The Debate

Voluntary active euthanasia refers to a clearly competent patient making a voluntary and persistent request for aid in dying (Brock 1999; Ogubanjo & Knapp van Bogaert 2008). In this case, the individual or a person acting on that individual’s behalf (physician or lay person, depending on the law of the country) takes active steps to hasten death (LaFollette, 1997). That active step can be eithe...

Debate: euthanasia--a physician's viewpoint.

Discussion about euthanasia is often confused because of a failure to distinguish between deliberate death acceleration and letting nature take its course. There is a need to reiterate the traditional principles upon which the care of the dying should be based, including the need for the doctor to practise medicine in the knowledge that eventually all his patients will die. It follows that a do...

[A contribution to the euthanasia debate].

Euthanasia: from ethical debate to clinical reality.

W hile it may only be the third-leading neoplasm worldwide, lung cancer is the first cause of death by cancer in males and one of the first in females in industrialised countries. Overall, cure rate is only 10–15% and the majority of patients, most of whom are diagnosed at an advanced stage and will ultimately die from lung cancer progression or related complications. During the last few decade...