This Article  • References  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

David Orentlicher, MD, JD
American Medical Association Chicago, Ill

JAMA. 1990;263(9):1198.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

In Reply.—

Dr Abrams correctly observes that, when there is a conflict between the physician's duty to provide life-sustaining medical care and the physician's duty to relieve suffering, the preferences of the patient must prevail.¹ However, it is not "clear" that therefore physicians must be available to assist a patient's suicide. The right of a patient to refuse treatments that are unwelcome is very different from a right to demand the physician's participation in the patient's suicide. Indeed, while we ordinarily let the patient choose whether to accept a physician's recommendations for treatment, we do not permit the patient to decide what recommendations will be made.

I agree that the concern about burdening family and friends is not "unquestionably irrational." But there is a real concern that for some patients the right to die might become a duty to die. There is no shortage of people who question whether we . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?