Main description:

Public policy surrounding the hotly debated issue of physician-assisted suicide is examined in detail. You'll find an analysis of the current legal standing and practice of physician-assisted suicide in several countries. Authors discuss the ethical principles underlying its legal and professional regulation. Personal narratives provide important first-hand accounts from professionals who have been involved in end-of-life issues for many years.

Contents:

Preface;Dieter Birnbacher & Edgar Dahl;I. Physician-Assisted Suicide and Public Policy;Physician-Assisted Suicide and Public Policy-Gerald Dworkin;Slippery Slopes and Physician-Assisted Suicide -Neil Levy ;Physician-Assisted Suicide and the Medical Associations-Dieter Birnbacher;Safe, Legal, Rare? Physician-Assisted Suicide and Cultural Change in the Future-Margaret Pabst Battin;Palliative Options of Last Resort: A Comparison of Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking, Terminal Sedation, Physician-Assisted Suicide, and Voluntary Active Euthanasia-Timothy E. Quill, Bernard Lo & Dan W. Brock;II. Physician-Assisted Suicide - An International Perspective;Physician-Assisted Suicide in Oregon-Linda Ganzini & Edgar Dahl;Physician-Assisted Suicide in the Netherlands and Belgium-John Griffiths;Physician-Assisted Suicide and the German Criminal Law-Gabriele Wolfslast;Physician-Assisted Death. An Australian Perspective-Alan Rothschild;Assisted Dying: The View from the United Kingdom-Sheila A. M. McLean; III. Physician-Assisted Suicide - Narratives from Professional and Personal Experience;Physician-Assisted Suicide: A Doctor's Perspective-Pieter Admiraal;Medically Assisted Suicide in Switzerland-Elke Baezner-Sailer;The European Convention on Human Rights Protects the Right of Suicide-Ludwig A. Minelli;