BACKGROUND In Oregon, physicians can prescribe lethal amounts of medication only if requested by competent, terminally ill patients. However, the possibility of extending the practice to patients who lack decisional capacity exists. This paper examines why the legal extension of physician-assisted suicide (PAS) to incapacitated patients is possible, and perhaps likely. METHODS The author revi...

Dutch author Ubaldus de Vries reviews the current state of the euthanasia law in the Netherlands. The legislation, enacted in 2001, creates a medical exception that allows for euthanasia in cases where patients experience "hopeless and unbearable suffering." A brief history of the Dutch approach to euthanasia is set forth, case law is reviewed, and the unique role of the doctor is examined in s...

Euthanasia strictu sensu is about ending a patient's life at his or her explicit request. However, there are many cases of ending someone's life that are related to euthanasia in its classical form but do not neatly fit into the strict definition. Dutch citizens were asked to judge all kinds of 'euthanasia' and appeared to be able to do this in a highly balanced way. They do not use just one or...

Two decades of research on euthanasia in the Netherlands have resulted into clear insights in the frequency and characteristics of euthanasia and other medical end-of-life decisions in the Netherlands. These empirical studies have contributed to the quality of the public debate, and to the regulating and public control of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. No slippery slope seems to hav...

"When a country legalizes active euthanasia, it puts itself on a slippery slope from where it may well go further downward." If true, this is a forceful argument in the battle of those who try to prevent euthanasia from becoming legal. The force of any slippery slope argument, however, is by definition limited by its reference to future developments which cannot empirically be sustained. Experi...

OBJECTIVE To identify and evaluate coping strategies advocated by experienced animal shelter workers who directly engaged in euthanizing animals. DESIGN Cross-sectional study. SAMPLE POPULATION Animal shelters across the United States in which euthanasia was conducted (5 to 100 employees/shelter). PROCEDURES With the assistance of experts associated with the Humane Society of the United S...

Euthanasia was legalized in Belgium in 2002 for adults under strict conditions. The patient must be in a medically futile condition and of constant and unbearable physical or mental suffering that cannot be alleviated, resulting from a serious and incurable disorder caused by illness or accident. Between 2005 and 2007, 4 patients (3 in Antwerp and 1 in Liège) expressed their will for organ dona...

A variety of recent developments in medical technology enable physicians to prolong life, a goal long sought by the medical profession. Artificial life support, in particular, has changed the medical environment, and physicians now seem to pay more attention to prolonging life than to pain relief and other important aspects of quality of life as it relates to medical care. The perception of qua...

The Spanish government recently passed legislation that legalized euthanasia. This article analyzes the Organic Law on Regulation of Voluntary Euthanasia by exploring its procedural aspects, various methods providing assistance to die and medical role under law. After this examination, points out three potential problems with respect law’s practical implementation. first problem is lack explici...

Opinions of university students about euthanasia were studied in 4 cities in Pakistan using convenience sampling. A total of 836 students (316 males and 520 females) completed a questionnaire in which euthanasia was defined as deliberate administration of an overdose of a drug by a doctor to relieve pain and suffering of a dying patient at his/her explicit request to end his/her life. Only 25.6...