The Right to Die: Ethical and Medical Issues (IN: Dying: Facing the Facts, ed. by H Wass, F M Berardo & R A Neimeyer)

This chapter characterizes moral theory & discusses classical approaches to understanding euthanasia. Concepts of professionalism & professional obligations are analyzed & discusses in relation to 4 medical settings (emergency room, nursing home, burn unit, & neonatal intensive care). Quality of life issues are discussed with reference to infants & euthanasia, brain death & irreversible coma, paternalism, euthanasia in adults, terminal patients, virtues & ethics. (14 Refs.)