A Courtroom Lesson in Physician-Assisted Suicide

The Pennsylvania Medical Society’s Medical Students Section & the Temple University School of Law explored the topic of physician-assisted suicide in a “mock trial”. In a hypothetical case, Dr. C was charged with aiding a suicide after he gave a patient enough drugs to kill herself, which she subsequently did. This essay is a discussion of the legalization of euthanasia & its implications for physicians. Dr. C was unanimously acquitted by the jury.