0
ARTICLE |

Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia in the Netherlands: Lessons From the Dutch FREE

Nancy K. O'Connor, MD
[+] Author Affiliations

Edited by Margaret A. Winker, MD, Senior Editor, and Phil B. Fontanarosa, MD, Senior Editor.


JAMA. 1997;278(10):817-817. doi:10.1001/jama.1997.03550100043021
Text Size: A A A
Published online

To the Editor.  —I have read theoretical proposals concerning guidelines for legalizing euthanasia and preventing unwanted euthanasia from occurring,1,2 but the article by Dr Hendin and colleagues3 on the reality of what happens is the first major article to question whether this could actually be done. Anecdotal articles4 romanticize and idealize euthanasia, yet articles5 noting the possibility of misuse against the poor have been largely ignored. Parallel to these developments, the language regarding removing unwanted and futile extraordinary treatment from the dying vs language regarding direct killing has been confused—a confusion exploited in polls (which use ambiguous language, lack statistical validity due to sampling errors, or both6) that "show" that most Americans wish to legalize euthanasia or "prove" that euthanasia is already widely performed by health care personnel.There have, of course, been articles that are "balanced," but even these are commonly written in the

REFERENCES

Benrubi GI.  Euthanasia: the need for procedural safeguards . N Engl J Med . 1992;;326: (3) :197-199.
Quill TE, Cassel DK, Meier DE.  Case of the hopelessly ill: proposed clinical criteria for physician-assisted suicide . N Engl J Med . 1992;;327:1380-1384.
Hendin H, Rutenfrans C, Zylicz Z.  Physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia in the Netherlands: lessons from the Dutch . JAMA . 1997;;277:1720-1722.
Emanuel EJ, Faircough DK, Daniels ER, Clarridge BR.  Euthanasia and physicianassisted suicide: attitudes and experiences with oncology patients, oncologists, and the public . Lancet . 1996;;247:1805-1810.
Singer P, Siegler M.  Euthanasia: a critique . N Engl J Med . 1990;;322:1881-1883.
Scanlon C.  Nurses and end-of-life care . Nursing . (August) 1996;:18.

Figures

Tables

Interactive Graphics

Video

Country-Specific Mortality and Growth Failure in Infancy and Yound Children and Association With Material Stature

Use interactive graphics and maps to view and sort country-specific infant and early dhildhood mortality and growth failure data and their association with maternal

Benrubi GI.  Euthanasia: the need for procedural safeguards . N Engl J Med . 1992;;326: (3) :197-199.
Quill TE, Cassel DK, Meier DE.  Case of the hopelessly ill: proposed clinical criteria for physician-assisted suicide . N Engl J Med . 1992;;327:1380-1384.
Hendin H, Rutenfrans C, Zylicz Z.  Physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia in the Netherlands: lessons from the Dutch . JAMA . 1997;;277:1720-1722.
Emanuel EJ, Faircough DK, Daniels ER, Clarridge BR.  Euthanasia and physicianassisted suicide: attitudes and experiences with oncology patients, oncologists, and the public . Lancet . 1996;;247:1805-1810.
Singer P, Siegler M.  Euthanasia: a critique . N Engl J Med . 1990;;322:1881-1883.
Scanlon C.  Nurses and end-of-life care . Nursing . (August) 1996;:18.
CME Course for:


You need to register in order to view this quiz.


To understand the clinical management of acute heart failure syndromes.
Accreditation Information The American Medical Association is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The AMA designates this journal-based CME activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM per course. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Physicians who complete the CME course and score at least 80% correct on the quiz are eligible for AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM.
Note: You must get at least of the answers correct to pass this quiz.
Note: You must get at least of the answers correct to pass this quiz.
You have not filled in all the answers to complete this quiz
The following questions were not answered:
Sorry, you have unsuccessfully completed this CME quiz with a score of
The following questions were not answered correctly:
For CME Course: A Proposed Model for Initial Assessment and Management of Acute Heart Failure Syndromes
Indicate what changes(s) you will implement in your practice, if any, based on this CME course.
To view and print your certificate and access a summary of your CME courses go to My CME.
NOTE:
Citing articles are presented as examples only. In non-demo SCM6 implementation, integration with CrossRef’s “Cited By” API will populate this tab (http://www.crossref.org/citedby.html).
Submit a Response

Some tools below are only available to our subscribers or users with an online account.

Related Content

Customize your page view by dragging & repositioning the boxes below.