Fear and False Promises: the Challenge of Pain in the Terminally ill (IN: Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: the Current Debate, edited by I Gentles)

Euthanasia & assisted suicide have arisen as a direct consequence of unresolved fear & denial. Euthanasia would enhance the pain of dying. Increasingly, patients are distrustful of palliative care. There appears to be a growing fear of narcotics. Public attention & government funding are being diverted away from palliative care. Research on the terminally ill indicates that a strong wish to die is rare. 85% of patients in advanced stages of diseases have measurable delirium.