Attitudes and Practices of U.S. Oncologists Regarding Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide

The authors investigated the attitudes & practices of oncologists regarding euthanasia (EUTH) & physician-assisted suicide (PAS). Of 3299 US oncologists surveyed, 22.5% supported the use of PAS for a terminally ill patient with unremitting pain & 6.5% supported EUTH. During their career, 3.7% of surveyed oncologists had performed EUTH & 10.8% had performed PAS. The authors predict that requests for EUTH & PAS will decrease as advances are made in end-of-life care and physician training. (20 refs)