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| Disabilities Ethical History International Medical Psychological Religious |
U.S. Historical Perspective and Current Trends Alaska California California Death With Dignity Act Florida Hawaii Maine Michigan Proposal B - Michigan's Ballot Initiative on Assisted Suicide New Hampshire New Hampshire Aid-in-Dying Act New York Oregon 1st Annual Report on Oregon's Death With Dignity Act (1998) 2nd Annual Report on Oregon's Death With Dignity Act (1999) 3rd Annual Report on Oregon's Death With Dignity Act (2000) 4th Annual Report on Oregon's Death With Dignity Act (2001) 5th Annual Report on Oregon's Death With Dignity Act (2002) Eighth Annual Report on Assisted Suicide in Oregon. Executive Summary of the 5th Annual Report on Oregon's Death With Dignity Act (2002) How Do Oregon Psychologists View Their Role in Physician-Assisted Suicide? Measure 16 - Oregon Death With Dignity Act Oregon's Assisted Suicide Experience: Safeguards Don't Work Physician-Assisted Suicide: Reflections on Oregon's First Case The Oregon Report: Don't Ask, Don't Tell Vermont Washington |
Physician-Assisted Suicide: Reflections on Oregon's First Case Herbert Hendin, M.D., Kathleen Foley, M.D., and Margot White, J.D., Physician-Assisted Suicide: Reflections on Oregon's First Case, 14 ISSUES IN LAW & MEDICINE 243 (1998)The authors analyze Oregon's first reported assisted suicide of Mrs. A as a real life application of the Oregon Death with Dignity Act. They critique the effectiveness of the Act's safeguards as illustrated by the case of Mrs. A. They point out that the Act does not require that physicians be adequately trained in palliative care in order to participate in assisted suicide. Most physicians do not have such training. Without it, they are not able to effectively present alternatives to patients requesting assisted suicide. Most physicians also lack the expertise to assess patients' decision-making capacity. Nor does the Act ensure that physicians will be in a position to assess coercion of patients' decisions. The Act requires physicians to report only minimal information about their cases, and there are no enforcement provisions to see that even this is done. Under the Act, a good faith standard rather than the more usual negligence standard immunizes physicians from civil or criminal liability even when they act negligently. The authors demonstrate that the Act protects physicians more than patients, and encourages secrecy. The authors conclude that secrecy will need to be replaced by openness to permit the kind of examination the practice of assisted suicide warrants. Posted on June 26, 2004. |