Physician-assisted dying

California's assembly passes physician assisted dying bill.

California looks set to permit physician assisted dying next year after its state assembly passed the End of Life Option Act by 43 votes to 34 on 9 September. The legislation is closely modeled on the Oregon law that has permitted terminally ill patients to end their life in that state since 1997. Only patients who file two written requests and have less than six months to live can avail themse...

Physician Assisted Suicide : An Exploration of the Dying Process

52 Physician Assisted Suicide: An Exploration of the Dying Process Kunwar Kaur Abstract Up until about two decades ago, the practice of physician-assisted suicide was prohibited in the United States. However, the issues surrounding the legalization of physicianassisted suicide have long been the topic of debate as proponents seek to change public policy. Just as keenly, though, the opposition s...

BMA end-of-life care and physician-assisted dying project.

Physician-assisted dying: bringing the family physician perspective to the table.

Joan (not her real name) was dying of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. She was all but “locked in.” She could move her eyes—up meant yes; down, no. When she could still speak, we had often discussed advanced directives, and she was clear: If you can, hasten my death when I tell you I am ready. Now with her eyes she was asking me to help her die—the sooner the better. She was suffering from marked...

Assisted dying.

Professor Finlay is absolutely right that GPs’ opinions are vitally important in the assisted dying debate, and that it is important for the College to have a view on this issue.1 Physician-assisted suicide would involve GPs in assessing requests for assisted suicide and would also require GPs to prescribe lethal doses of medication. It would also be highly stressful for GPs, as seen in the Net...