Legalizing euthanasia or assisted suicide: The illusion of safeguards and controls

Current Oncology

Volumn 18, Issue 2, 2011, Pages

  Pereira, J ^a,b,c  

^a UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA   (Canada)

^b BRUYÈRE RESEARCH INSTITUTE   (Canada)

^c UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA   (Canada)

Author keywords

Euthanasia; Physician assisted suicide

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; ASSISTED SUICIDE; DEMENTIA; DOCTOR PATIENT RELATION; ETHICAL DECISION MAKING; EUTHANASIA; HUMAN; INFORMED CONSENT; LAW ENFORCEMENT; LEGAL ASPECT; MANDATORY REPORTING; PALLIATIVE THERAPY; PATIENT ADVOCACY; PATIENT AUTONOMY; PATIENT REFERRAL; PRACTICE GUIDELINE; RIGHT TO DIE; RISK ASSESSMENT; TERMINALLY ILL PATIENT; VOLUNTARY EUTHANASIA;

EID: 79955404242     PISSN: None     EISSN: 17187729     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.3747/co.v18i2.883     Document Type: Article

References (57)

1. Deliens L, van der Wal G. The euthanasia law in Belgium and the Netherlands. Lancet 2003;362:1239-1240.
2. Watson R. Luxembourg is to allow euthanasia. BMJ 2009;338:b1248.
3. Steinbrook R. Physician-assisted death-from Oregon to Washington State. N Engl J Med 2008;359:2513-2515.
4. Hurst S, Mauron A. Assisted suicide and euthanasia in Switzerland: allowing a role for non-physicians. BMJ 2003;326:271-273.
5. Smets T, Bilsen J, Cohen J, Rurup ML, De Keyser E, Deliens L. The medical practice of euthanasia in Belgium and the Netherlands: legal notification, control and evaluation procedures. Health Policy 2009;90:181-187.
6. Caplan AL, Snyder L, Faber-Langendoen K. The role of guidelines in the practice of physician-assisted suicide. University of Pennsylvania Center for Bioethics Assisted Suicide Consensus Panel. Ann Intern Med 2000:132:476-481.
7. van der Heide A, Onwuteaka-Philipsen BD, Rurup ML, et al. End-of-life practices in the Netherlands under the Euthanasia Act. N Engl J Med 2007;356:1957-1965.
8. Van den Block L, Deschepper R, Bilsen J, Bossuyt N, Van Casteren V, Deliens L. Euthanasia and other end of life decisions and care provided in final three months of life: nationwide retrospective study in Belgium. BMJ 2009;339:b2772.
9. Van den Block L, Deschepper R, Bilsen J, Bossuyt N, Van Casteren V, Deliens L. Euthanasia and other end-of-life decisions: a mortality follow-back study in Belgium. BMC Public Health 2009;9:79.
10. Chambaere K, Bilsen J, Cohen J, Onwuteaka-Philipsen BD, Mortier F, Deliens L. Physician-assisted deaths under the euthanasia law in Belgium: a population-based survey. CMAJ 2010;182:895-901.
11. Prager LO. Details emerge on Oregon's first assisted suicides. American Medical News September 7, 1998.
12. Rurup M, Buiting HM, Pasman RHW, van der Maas PJ, van der Heide A, Onwuteaka-Philipsen BD. The reporting rate of euthanasia and physicians-assisted suicide. A study of the trends. Med Care 2008;46:1198-1202.
13. Smets T, Bilsen J, Cohen J, Rurup ML, Mortier F, Deliens L. Reporting of euthanasia in medical practice in Flanders, Belgium: cross sectional analysis of reported and unreported cases. BMJ 2010;341:c5174.
14. Onwuteaka-Philipsen B, van der Heide A, Muller MT, et al. Dutch experience of monitoring euthanasia. BMJ 2005;331:691-693.
15. Inghelbrecht E, Bilsen J, Mortier F, Deliens L. The role of nurses in physician-assisted deaths in Belgium. CMAJ 2010;182:905-910.
16. Hendin H. Seduced by death: doctors, patients and the Dutch cure. Issues Law Med 1994;10:123-168.
17. Hendin H, Foley K. Physician-assisted suicide in Oregon: a medical perspective. Mich Law Rev 2008;106:1613-1640.
18. Van Wesemael Y, Cohen J, Onwuteaka-Philipsen BD, Bilsen J, Deliens L. Establishing specialized health services for professional consultation in euthanasia: experiences in the Netherlands and Belgium. BMC Health Serv Res 2009;9:220.
19. Gamaster N, Van den Eynden B. The relationship between palliative care and legalized euthanasia in Belgium. J Palliat Med 2009;12:589-591.
20. Oregon, Department of Human Services (dhs). Death with Dignity Act. Portland, OR: dhs; 2007. [Available online at: www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/pas/ors.shtml; cited February 17, 2011]
21. Chochinov HM, Wilson KG, Enns M, et al. Desire for death in the terminally ill. Am J Psychiatry 1995;152:1185-1891.
22. Emanuel EJ, Fairclough DL, Emanuel LL. Attitudes and desires related to euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide among terminally ill patients and their caregivers. JAMA 2000;284:2460-2468.
23. Breitbart W, Rosenfeld B, Pessin H, et al. Depression, hopelessness, and desire for hastened death in terminally ill patients with cancer. JAMA 2000;284:2907-2911.
24. Ganzini L, Goy ER, Dobscha SK. Why Oregon patients request assisted death: family members' views. J Gen Intern Med 2008;23:154-157.
25. Ganzini L, Goy ER, Dobscha SK. Prevalence of depression and anxiety in patients requesting physicians' aid in dying: cross sectional survey. BMJ 2008;337:a1682.
26. Smith SW. Evidence for the practical slippery slope in the debate on physician assisted suicide and euthanasia. Med Law Review 2005;13:17-44.
27. Keown J. Euthanasia, Ethics, and Public Policy: An Argument Against Legalisation. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press; 2002.
28. Sheldon T. Dutch GP found guilty of murder faces no penalty. BMJ 2001;322:509.
29. Sheldon T. Dutch court acquits suicide counsellor of breaking the law. BMJ 2007;334:228-229.
30. Bilsen J, Cohen J, Chambaere K, et al. Medical end-of-life practices under the euthanasia law in Belgium. N Engl J Med 2009;361:1119-1121.
31. Smets T, Bilsen J, Cohen J, Rurup ML, Deliens L. Legal euthanasia in Belgium: characteristics of all reported euthanasia cases. Med Care 2010;48:187-192.
32. Sheldon T. Dutch euthanasia law should apply to patients "suffering through living," report says. BMJ 2005;330:3361.
33. McAlpine CH. Elder abuse and neglect. Age Ageing 2008;37:132-133.
34. Verhagen AA, Sol JJ, Brouwer OF, Sauer PJ. Deliberate termination of life in newborns in the Netherlands; review of all 22 reported cases between 1997 and 2004 [Dutch]. Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd 2005;149:183-188.
35. Sheldon T. Dutch law leads to confusion over when to use life ending treatment in suffering newborns. BMJ 2009;339:b5474.
36. Burgermeister J. Doctor reignites euthanasia row in Belgium after mercy killing. BMJ 2006;332:382.
37. Cohen-Almagor R. Belgian euthanasia law: a critical analysis. J Med Ethics 2009;35:436-439.
38. Wilson K, Chochinov HM, McPherson CJ, et al. Desire for euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide in palliative cancer care. Health Psychol 2007;26:314-323.
39. Bernheim J, Deschepper R, Distelmans W, Mullie A, Bilsen J, Deliens L. Development of palliative care and legalisation of euthanasia: antagonism or synergy? BMJ 2008;336:864-867.
40. Wasserfallen JB, Chioléro R, Stiefel F. Assisted suicide in an acute care hospital: 18 months' experience. Swiss Med Wkly 2008;138:239-242.
41. Pereira J, Laurent P, Cantin B, Petremand D, Currat T. The response of a Swiss university hospital's palliative care consult team to assisted suicide within the institution. Palliat Med 2008;22:659-667.
42. Association for Palliative Medicine of Great Britain and Ireland. Submission from the Ethics Committee to the Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Assisted Dying Bill. Southampton, U.K.: Association for Palliative Medicine of Great Britain and Ireland; 2004.
43. Kelly BD, McLoughlin DM. Euthanasia, assisted suicide and psychiatry: a Pandora's box. Br J Psychiatry 2002;181:278-279.
44. Shah N, Warner J, Blizard B, King N. National survey of U.K. psychiatrists' attitudes to euthanasia. Lancet 1998;352:1360.
45. Harvath TA, Miller LL, Smith KA, Clark LD, Jackson A, Ganzini L. Dilemmas encountered by hospice workers when patients wish to hasten death. J Hosp Palliat Nurs 2006;8:200-209.
46. George RJD, Finlay IG, Jeffrey D. Legalised euthanasia will violate the rights of vulnerable patients. BMJ 2005;331:684-685.
47. Euthanasia [letter]. Lancet 1991;338:1150.
48. Zylicz Z. Hospice in Holland: the story behind the blank spot. Am J Hosp Palliat Care 1993;10:30-34.
49. United Kingdom. Human Rights Act 1998. Schedule 1, Article 2.1. London, U.K.: United Kingdom; 1998. [Available online at: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/42/schedule/1; cited February 17, 2011]
50. Oregon, Department of Human Services (dhs), Office of Disease Prevention and Epidemiology. Sixth Annual Report on Oregon's Death with Dignity Act. Portland, OR: dhs; 2004. [Available online at: www.oregon.gov/DHS/ph/pas/docs/year6.pdf; cited February 17, 2011]
51. Battin MP, van der Heide A, Ganzini L, van der Wal G, Onwuteaka-Philipsen BD. Legal physician-assisted dying in Oregon and the Netherlands: evidence concerning the impact on patients in ''vulnerable'' groups. J Med Ethics 2007;33:591-597.
52. Finlay IG, George R. Legal physician-assisted suicide in Oregon and the Netherlands: evidence concerning the impact on patients in vulnerable groups; another perspective on Oregon's data. J Med Ethics 2010;:[Epub ahead of print].
53. Portenoy RK, Coyle N, Kash KM, et al. Determinants of the willingness to endorse assisted suicide: a survey of physicians, nurses, and social workers. Psychosomatics 1997;38:277-287.
54. Zylicz B. Palliative care and euthanasia in the Netherlands: observations of a Dutch physician. In: Foley KM, Hendin H, eds. The Case Against Assisted Suicide: For the Right to End-of-Life Care. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press; 2002.
55. Cherny NI, Radbruch L, Board of the European Association for Palliative Care. European Association for Palliative Care (eapc) recommended framework for the use of sedation in palliative care. Palliat Med 2009;23:581-593.
56. Emanuel EJ. Depression, euthanasia, and improving end-of-life care. J Clin Oncol 2005;23:6456-6458.
57. Chochinov HM, Hack T, Hassard T, Kristjanson LJ, McClement S, Harlos M. Dignity therapy: a novel psychotherapeutic intervention for patients near the end of life. J Clin Oncol 2005;23:5520-5525.