Report of the committee on physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia

Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior

Volumn 26, Issue 3 SUPPL., 1996, Pages 2-19

  Maltsberger, J ^a   Battin, M P ^a   Canetto, S S ^a   O'Carroll, P ^a   Clark, D ^a   Conwell, Y ^a   Mishara, B ^a   Rubey, C ^a   Shneidman, E ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CLINICAL PROTOCOL; DOCTOR PATIENT RELATION; EUTHANASIA; HUMAN; MEDICAL PRACTICE; PRESCRIPTION; REVIEW; SUICIDE; UNITED STATES;

EID: 0029801324     PISSN: 03630234     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Review

References (56)

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2. Keowm, J. (1992). The law and practice of euthanasia in the Netherlands. The Law Quarterly Review, 51-78.
3. Hendin, H. (1994). Seduced by death: Doctors, patients, and the Dutch cure. Issues in Law & Medicine, 20, 123-168.
4. For an account of the nonvoluntary cases in the Netherlands see Pijnenborg, L., van der Maas, P. J., van Delden, J. J. M., & Looman, C. W. N. (1993). Life-terminating acts without explicit request of the patient. The Lancet, 341, 1196-1199. See also Battin, M. P. (1994). The least worst death: Essays in bioethics on the end of life. New York: Oxford University Press.
5. For an account of the nonvoluntary cases in the Netherlands see Pijnenborg, L., van der Maas, P. J., van Delden, J. J. M., & Looman, C. W. N. (1993). Life-terminating acts without explicit request of the patient. The Lancet, 341, 1196-1199. See also Battin, M. P. (1994). The least worst death: Essays in bioethics on the end of life. New York: Oxford University Press.
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7. van der Maas, P. J., van Delden, J. J. M., & Pijnenborg, L. (1992). Euthanasia and other medical decisions concerning the end of life. New York: Elsevier. See Table 6.7 on p. 64, Table 7.7 on p. 75, and pp. 87, 57-69, and 181-187.
8. Prof. Rene Diekstra, personal communication.
9. Prof. Rene Diekstra, personal communication.
10. See the 1994 Spring and Fall issues of Newslink (the newsletter of the American Association of Suicidology) for comments by David J. Mayo and John T. Maltsberger.
11. Patient refusal of nutrition and hydration can be classed with such commonly accepted practices as patient-initiated refusal of mechanical ventilation, renal dialysis, or antibiotic use. It can be argued that refusal of medical intervention by a competent patient does not involve any act of commission or omission by the physician. In that view, this example would be one of suicide, not voluntary passive euthanasia. Others reject the use of "suicide" in such cases, and prefer to call them deaths through treatment withdrawal. See Byock, I. (1995). Patient refusal of nutrition and hydration: Walking the ever-finer line. American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care, March-April, pp. 8-13. Also Bernat, J. L., Gert, B., & Mogielnicki, R. P. (1993). Patient refusal of hydration and nutrition: An alternative to physician-assisted suicide or voluntary active euthanasia. Archives of Internal Medicine, 153, 2723-2728.
12. Patient refusal of nutrition and hydration can be classed with such commonly accepted practices as patient-initiated refusal of mechanical ventilation, renal dialysis, or antibiotic use. It can be argued that refusal of medical intervention by a competent patient does not involve any act of commission or omission by the physician. In that view, this example would be one of suicide, not voluntary passive euthanasia. Others reject the use of "suicide" in such cases, and prefer to call them deaths through treatment withdrawal. See Byock, I. (1995). Patient refusal of nutrition and hydration: Walking the ever-finer line. American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care, March-April, pp. 8-13. Also Bernat, J. L., Gert, B., & Mogielnicki, R. P. (1993). Patient refusal of hydration and nutrition: An alternative to physician-assisted suicide or voluntary active euthanasia. Archives of Internal Medicine, 153, 2723-2728.
13. Hendin, H. (1994). Seduced by death: Doctors, patients, and the Dutch cure. Issues in Law & Medicine, 20, 123-168.
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35. Quill, T. E. (1993). Death and dignity: Making choices and taking charge. New York: W. W. Norton & Co.
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50. Byock, I. R. (1993). Consciously walking the fine line: Thoughts on a hospice response to assisted suicide and euthanasia. Journal of Palliative Care, 9, 25-28.
51. Quill, T. E. (1993). Death and dignity: Making choices and taking charge. New York: W. W. Norton & Co.
52. van der Maas, P. J., van Delden, J. J. M., & Pijnenborg, L. (1992). Euthanasia and other medical decisions concerning the end of life. New York: Elsevier.
53. I. Byock, personal communication, January 23, 1995. See also Byock, I. (1993). Consciously walking the fine line: Thoughts on a hospice response to assisted suicide and euthanasia. Journal of Palliative Care, 9, 25-28.
54. I. Byock, personal communication, January 23, 1995. See also Byock, I. (1993). Consciously walking the fine line: Thoughts on a hospice response to assisted suicide and euthanasia. Journal of Palliative Care, 9, 25-28.
55. On the issues of patient rights and suicide, see Battin, M. P. (1995). Ethical issues in suicide. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall
56. Eddy, D. (1994). A conversation with my mother. Journal of the American Medical Association, 272, 179-181.