TY - JOUR
T1 - Facing requests for physician-assisted suicide
T2 - Toward a practical and principled clinical skill set
AU - Emanuel, Linda L.
PY - 1998/8/19
Y1 - 1998/8/19
N2 - Requests for physician-assisted suicide are not a new phenomenon, and many physicians are likely to face this challenging situation. This article proposes for professionals an 8-step approach to respond to requests for physician-assisted suicide. The approach seeks to identify and treat the root causes of the request and aims to present a plan for consistent application of a set of clinical skills. Justification for the steps requires only 2 noncontentious principles: the patient should be free of unwanted intervention, and the physician is obligated to provide suffering patients with comfort care. Care based on these 2 principles alone does not include physician-assisted suicide. The approach does, however, justify patient refusal of oral intake in specific circumstances. The approach could resolve a majority of requests for physician-assisted suicide and should be tested further for clinical efficacy.
AB - Requests for physician-assisted suicide are not a new phenomenon, and many physicians are likely to face this challenging situation. This article proposes for professionals an 8-step approach to respond to requests for physician-assisted suicide. The approach seeks to identify and treat the root causes of the request and aims to present a plan for consistent application of a set of clinical skills. Justification for the steps requires only 2 noncontentious principles: the patient should be free of unwanted intervention, and the physician is obligated to provide suffering patients with comfort care. Care based on these 2 principles alone does not include physician-assisted suicide. The approach does, however, justify patient refusal of oral intake in specific circumstances. The approach could resolve a majority of requests for physician-assisted suicide and should be tested further for clinical efficacy.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0032547329&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0032547329&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1001/jama.280.7.643
DO - 10.1001/jama.280.7.643
M3 - Review article
C2 - 9718058
AN - SCOPUS:0032547329
SN - 0098-7484
VL - 280
SP - 643
EP - 647
JO - Journal of the American Medical Association
JF - Journal of the American Medical Association
IS - 7
ER -