Physician-Assisted Dying: Acceptance by Physicians Only for Patients Close to Death

This study reports on German physicians’ views on legalization of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, comparing this with a similar survey of UK doctors. A questionnaire was handed out to attendants of a palliative care and a pain symposium. Complete answers were obtained from 137 physicians....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pain and therapy 2014-12, Vol.3 (2), p.103-112
Main Authors: Zenz, Julia, Tryba, Michael, Zenz, Michael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Brief Report
Internal Medicine
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Pain Medicine
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Summary:This study reports on German physicians’ views on legalization of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, comparing this with a similar survey of UK doctors. A questionnaire was handed out to attendants of a palliative care and a pain symposium. Complete answers were obtained from 137 physicians. Similar to the UK study, about 30% of the physicians surveyed support euthanasia in case of terminal illness and more support physician-assisted suicide. In contrast, in both countries, a great majority of physicians oppose medical involvement in hastening death in non-terminal illnesses. The public and parliamentary discussion should face this opposition to assisted suicide by pain and palliative specialists.
ISSN:2193-8237
2193-651X
DOI:10.1007/s40122-014-0029-z