Physician-Assisted Death is the eleventh volume of Biomedical Ethics Reviews. We, the editors, are pleased with the response to the series over the years and, as a result, are happy to continue into a second decade with the same general purpose and zeal. As in the past, contributors to projected volumes have been asked to summarize the nature of the literature, the prevailing attitudes and arguments, and then to advance the discussion in some way by staking out and arguing forcefully for some basic position on the topic targeted for discussion. For the present volume on Physician-Assisted Death, we felt it wise to enlist the services of a guest editor, Dr. Gregg A. Kasting, a practicing physician with extensive clinical knowledge of the various problems and issues encountered in discussing physician assisted death. Dr. Kasting is also our student and just completing a graduate degree in philosophy with a specialty in biomedical ethics here at Georgia State University. Apart from a keen interest in the topic, Dr. Kasting has published good work in the area and has, in our opinion, done an excellent job in taking on the lion's share of editing this well-balanced and probing set of essays. We hope you will agree that this volume significantly advances the level of discussion on physician-assisted euthanasia. Incidentally, we wish to note that the essays in this volume were all finished and committed to press by January 1993.

Medicine and health care generate many bioethical problems and dilemmas that are of great academic, professional and public interest. This comprehensive resource is designed as a succinct yet authoritative text and reference for clinicians, bioethicists, and advanced students seeking a better understanding of ethics problems in the clinical setting. Each chapter illustrates an ethical problem that might be encountered in everyday practice; defines the concepts at issue; examines their implications from the perspectives of ethics, law and policy; and then provides a practical resolution. There are 10 key sections presenting the most vital topics and clinically relevant areas of modern bioethics. International, interdisciplinary authorship and cross-cultural orientation ensure suitability for a worldwide audience. This book will assist all clinicians in making well-reasoned and defensible decisions by developing their awareness of ethical considerations and teaching the analytical skills to deal with them effectively.

After assessing the strengths and weaknesses of arguments for assisted suicide and euthanasia, Gorsuch builds a nuanced, novel, and powerful moral and legal argument against legalization, one based on a principle that, surprisingly, has largely been overlooked in the debate; the idea that human life is intrinsically valuable and that intentional killing is always wrong. At the same time, the argument Gorsuch develops leaves wide latitude for individual patient autonomy and the refusal of unwanted medical treatment and life-sustaining care, permitting intervention only in cases where an intention to kill is present.

A personal journey into the issues surrounding assisted suicide that covers the widest range of topics and positions on the subject

"The book is extremely well balanced: in each section there is usually an argument for and against the positions raised. It is a useful and well-thought-out text. It will make people think and discuss the problems raised, which I think is the editor's main purpose." -- Journal of Medical Ethics "... a volume that is to be commended for the clarity of its contributions, and for the depth it gains from its narrow focus. In places, this is a deeply moving, as well as closely argued, book." -- Times Literary Supplement "This work is an excellent historical and philosophical resource on a very difficult subject." -- Choice "This collection of well-written and carefully argued essays should be interesting, illuminating, and thought provoking for students, clinicians, and scholars." -- New England Journal of Medicine "This book is highly recommended..." -- Pharmacy Book Review "This is a well-balanced collection and the essays are of uniformly good quality.... very readable.... should be useful to anyone interested in this topic." -- Doody's Health Sciences Book Review Home Page "Physician-Assisted Suicide continues in the fine tradition of the Medical Ethics series published by Indiana University Press. Chapters are authored by outstanding scholars from both sides of the debate, providing a balanced, in-depth exploration of physician-assisted suicide along clinical, ethical, historical, and public policy dimensions. It is important reading for those who want to better understand the complex, multilayered issues that underlie this emotionally-laden topic." -- Timothy Quill, M.D. "Robert Weir has produced the finest collection of essays on physician assisted dying yet assembled in one volume. Physician assisted dying involves ethical and legal issues of enormous complexity. The deep strength of this anthology is its multi-disciplinary approach, which insightfully brings to bear interpretations from history, moral philosophy, religion, clinical practice, and law. This is a subject, much like abortion, that has divided America. This volume provides balanced scholarship that will help inform opinions from the hospital and hospice bedside to the halls of federal and state legislatures and courtrooms." -- Lawrence O. Gostin, Co-Director, Georgetown/Johns Hopkins Program on Law and Public Health "This book is a timely and valuable contribution to the debate. Highly recommended for academic collections." -- Library Journal These essays shed light and perspective on today's hotly contested issue of physician-assisted suicide. The authors were selected not only because of their experience and scholarship, but also because they provide readers with differing points of view on this complex subject -- and a potential moral quandary for us all.

An international bestseller, this compassionate memoir by a leading pioneer in medically assisted dying who helps suffering patients explore and fulfill their end of life choices is “written with sensitivity, grace, and candor...not to be missed” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). Dr. Stefanie Green has been forging new paths in the field of medical assistance in dying since 2016. In her landmark memoir, Dr. Green reveals the reasons a patient might seek an assisted death, how the process works, what the event itself can look like, the reactions of those involved, and what it feels like to oversee proceedings and administer medications that hasten death. She describes the extraordinary people she meets and the unusual circumstances she encounters as she navigates the intricacy, intensity, and utter humanity of these powerful interactions. Deeply authentic and powerfully emotional, This Is Assisted Dying contextualizes the myriad personal, professional, and practical issues surrounding assisted dying by bringing readers into the room with Dr. Green, sharing the voices of her patients, her colleagues, and her own narrative. As our population confronts issues of wellness, integrity, agency, community, and how to live a connected, meaningful life, this progressive and compassionate book by a physician at the forefront of medically assisted dying offers comfort and potential relief. “A humane, clear-eyed view of how and why one can leave the world by choice” (Kirkus Reviews), This Is Assisted Dying will change the way people think about their options, and ultimately is less about death than about how we wish to live.

The question of whether and under what circumstances terminally ill patients should be able to access life-ending medications with the aid of a physician is receiving increasing attention as a matter of public opinion and of public policy. Ethicists, clinicians, patients, and their families debate whether physician-assisted death ought to be a legal option for patients. While public opinion is divided and public policy debates include moral, ethical, and policy considerations, a demand for physician-assisted death persists among some patients, and the inconsistent legal terrain leaves a number of questions and challenges for health care providers to navigate when presented with patients considering or requesting physician-assisted death. To discuss what is known and not known empirically about the practice of physician-assisted death, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened a 2-day workshop in Washington, DC, on February 12â€"13, 2018. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

First published in the US in 1991 by the Hemlock Society, it discusses the practicalities of suicide and assisted suicide for those terminally ill, and is intended to inform mature adults suffering from a terminal illness. It also gives guidance to those who may support the option of suicide under those circumstances. The Australian edition was prepared by Dr Helga Kuhse. The author is a US journalist who has written or co-authored books on civil liberties, racial integration and euthanasia and is a past president of the World Federation of Right to Die societies. Sales of the book are category one restricted: not available to persons under 18.

Physician Assisted Suicide is a cross-disciplinary collection of essays from philosophers, physicians, theologians, social scientists, lawyers and economists. As the first book to consider the implications of the Supreme Court decisions in Washington v. Glucksburg and Vacco v. Quill concerning physician-assisted suicide from a variety of perspectives, this collection advances informed, reflective, vigorous public debate.

In The Case against Assisted Suicide: For the Right to End-of-Life Care, Dr. Kathleen Foley and Dr. Herbert Hendin uncover why pleas for patient autonomy and compassion, often used in favor of legalizing euthanasia, do not advance or protect the rights of terminally ill patients. Incisive essays by authorities in the fields of medicine, law, and bioethics draw on studies done in the Netherlands, Oregon, and Australia by the editors and contributors that show the dangers that legalization of assisted suicide would pose to the most vulnerable patients. Thoughtful and persuasive, this book urges the medical profession to improve palliative care and develop a more humane response to the complex issues facing those who are terminally ill.