Studies on the suicide risk among patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in countries without legalized euthanasia or assisted suicide are important additions to data on the wish to die of these patients. We conducted a population-based cohort study in Sweden between 1965 and 2004, which comprised of 6,642 patients with incident ALS identified from the Swedish Inpatient Register. We ...

See e.g. H. He ndin , “Seduced by death: doctors , patients and the Dutch cure” (1994) 10 Issues in Law and M edicine 1 23-16 8; H . Hendin, Seduced by De ath . Doctors, Patients and the Dutch Cure (New York: W.W. Nor ton, 1997); H . Hendin, C . Rutenfrans & Z. Zylicz, “Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia in the Netherlands: Lessons From the Dutch” (1997) 277 J.A.M.A. 1720-1722; R. Fenigs...

OBJECTIVE To explore the relation between the care provided in the final three months of life and the prevalence and types of end of life decisions in Belgium. Design Two year nationwide retrospective study, 2005-6 (SENTI-MELC study). SETTING Data collection via the sentinel network of general practitioners, an epidemiological surveillance system representative of all general practitioners in...

INTRODUCTION OR BACKGROUND The public assumes that if euthanasia and assisted suicide were to be legalized they would be carried out by physicians. SOURCES OF DATA In furthering critical analysis, we supplement the discourse in the ethics and palliative care literature with that from medical education and evolving jurisprudence. AREAS OF AGREEMENT Both proponents and opponents agree that th...

When provided by a skilled, multidisciplinary team, palliative care is highly effective at addressing the physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs of dying patients and their families. However, some patients who have witnessed harsh death want reassurance that they can escape if their suffering becomes intolerable. In addition, a small percentage of terminally ill patients receiving...

In Switzerland, all deaths through assisted suicide are reported as unnatural deaths and investigated by a forensic team (police, medical examiner, and state attorney). However, there is limited knowledge concerning the impact these forensic investigations have on the development of post-traumatic stress disorder, complicated grief, or depression in those who have lost a loved one. A cross-sect...

In a famous 1958 article, Yale Kamisar brilliantly examined the hazards of abuse and of slippery slope extensions that subsequently, for 46 years, served to thwart legalization of physician-assisted death (PAD). This paper shows that during the same period law and culture have effectively accepted a variety of ways for stricken people to hasten death, with physicians involved in diverse roles. ...

Consultation with another physician is considered to be an important safeguard of the practice of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. The objective is to describe the frequency and characteristics of consultation in cases of euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide (EAS) in the Netherlands. Data from two cross-sectional descriptive nationwide surveys, carried out in 1995, were used. Ques...

Euthanasia or assisted suicide-and sometimes both-have been legalized in a small number of countries and states. In all jurisdictions, laws and safeguards were put in place to prevent abuse and misuse of these practices. Prevention measures have included, among others, explicit consent by the person requesting euthanasia, mandatory reporting of all cases, administration only by physicians (with...

OBJECTIVES To discover what factors affect lay people's judgments of the acceptability of physician assisted suicide and euthanasia and how these factors interact. DESIGN Participants rated the acceptability of either physician assisted suicide or euthanasia for 72 patient vignettes with a five factor design--that is, all combinations of patient's age (three levels); curability of illness (tw...