The author reviews several court cases that have served to define the distinctions & legalities among American right-to-die cases & the various forms of euthanasia & physician-assisted suicide. It is concluded if courts allow physician-assisted suicide to be framed as a basic personal right like the right to refuse treatment, & if they rely on right-to-die case precedents, it is likely physician-assisted suicide will be extended to voluntary & nonvoluntary euthanasia. This would be done by extending the right to physician-assisted suicide to incapacitated patients, who may or may not have expressed a choice for physician-assisted suicide prior to incapacity. (42 refs.)