Redefining Physicians' Role in Assisted Dying — NEJM

Redefining Physicians' Role in Assisted Dying — NEJM

To the Editor:

As two of the original petitioners to bring a Death with Dignity Act before Massachusetts voters, we are pleased that Prokopetz and Lehmann believe “there is a compelling case for legalizing assisted dying,” as they state in their Perspective article (July 12 issue).1 However, we oppose their idea that physicians who agree that assisted dying is sometimes indicated might outsource the actual writing of the prescription to a government agency, presumably because they find that final step “incompatible with the physician's role as healer” (in the words of the statement on the subject by the American Medical Association).2
Laws permitting physician-assisted dying in the United States restrict it to dying patients who cannot be healed and who desire to hasten their deaths because of intractable suffering. In such cases, a physician's overriding ethical obligation should shift from healing to relieving suffering, in accord with the patient's wishes. To outsource that duty at the last minute is a form of abandonment. It also invites the establishment of an intrusive bureaucracy. Physicians should think less about their self-image and more about their patients' needs.