The Physician’s Role in Killing and the Intentional Withdrawl of Treatment (IN: Intending Death: the Ethics of Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia, edited by T L Beauchamp)

This article explores the issue of whether physicians should stand by & let nature take its course, or whether assisted suicide or euthanasia can be justified in circumstances when patients are experiencing extreme suffering for which there is no effective treatment. The author examines the difference between letting die and killing, presents examples of justifiable killing, & outlines five major areas that physicians who perform acts of humane killing should be knowledgable in. Potential for abuse is also discussed.