In recent years, assisted suicide has been legalized in four states for those who are terminally ill and wish to end their lives with the assistance of lethal doses of medications prescribed by a physician. The ethics-related and legal questions raised by end-of-life suicide and decisional capacity to refuse treatment assessments are complex. In treating patients with end-stage medical conditio...

Euthanasia or assisted suicide could be defined as the practice of artificial deprivation human life to end unbearable and incurable suffering a terminally ill person. Medical Historians believe that ancient Greeks Romans were in support concept mercy killing rather than denying whole notion. While opponents proponents euthanasia have not arrived at mutual understanding yet, Oregon, USA was fir...

BACKGROUND Oregon's 1997 Death with Dignity Act legalizes physician-assisted suicide. To date, information about patients who have requested this option has come from surveys of physicians. Although 78 percent of the 91 Oregonians who have died by assisted suicide were enrolled in hospice programs, there is little information about the experiences of hospice practitioners with these patients. ...

BACKGROUND Physician-assisted suicide was legalized in Oregon in October 1997. There are data on patients who have received prescriptions for lethal medications and died after taking the medications. There is little information, however, on physicians' experiences with requests for assistance with suicide. METHODS Between February and August 1999, we mailed a questionnaire to physicians who w...

BACKGROUND In the 19th century, eminent French sociologist Emile Durkheim found suicide rates to be higher in the Protestant compared with the Catholic cantons of Switzerland. We examined religious affiliation and suicide in modern Switzerland, where assisted suicide is legal. METHODS The 2000 census records of 1,722,456 (46.0%) Catholics, 1,565,452 (41.8%) Protestants and 454,397 (12.2%) ind...

Once again, new information on the practice of euthanasia and other end-of-life decisions in The Netherlands has become available—information that I think is worth sharing in light of the continuing worldwide debate on the topic. Results of a 2001 nationwide survey on the practices of medical end-of-life decisions—following on from identical surveys in 1990 and 1995—have recently been published...

In debates about euthanasia and assisted suicide, it is rare to find an article that begins with an expression of neutral interest and then proceeds to examine the various arguments and data before drawing conclusions based upon the results of a scholarly investigation. Although authors frequently give the impression of being impartial in their introduction, they invariably reach their prior co...

Evidence indicates that the risk of attempted suicide is a significant issue among people with dementia, however there is a lack of information to guide professional practice. This article uses a case study to reflect on the risk management strategies and ethics of suicide and assisted suicide in relation to a specific patient with dementia. It analyses recommendations aimed at improving the li...

Résumé Abstract John Arras se positionne contre la légalisation du suicide assisté par un médecin et celle de l’euthanasie active sur la base des coûts sociaux, qu’il anticipe comme résultat probable de cette légalisation. Arras croit que la légalisation hautement balisée du suicide assisté est le premier pas vers la légalisation de l’euthanasie active sans restriction particulière, une prédict...