Word: euthanasias
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Since active euthanasia is illegal and not widely practiced in this country, most doctors are not faced with the dilemma of deciding whether or not to put someone out of his misery. Most of the controversy in this area currently centers around the question of whether or not the practice should be legalized...
Despite popular support, however, the issues and questions surrounding passive euthanasia have become far more acute and complicated for physicians, as a result of the tremendous gains in medical science's ability to significantly prolong the lives of many "terminal" patients. Today, more and more doctors must decide when it is no longer worthwhile to attempt to keep a patient alive by further treatment or heroic measures...
THESE AND OTHER moral, judgmental and legal problems raised by passive euthanasia have concerned increasing numbers of medical and legal experts in the past few years...
...said that board members' expectations of outlining definite policy were too premature. "We just didn't know enough about so many questions," Rodriguez said. "We're trying to put together meaningful answers to ethical problems on which we can base some sort of guidelines for the handling of [passive] euthanasia." He added that until more thought goes into the matter, he is "terrified at the thought of individual doctors being faced with life and death situations and decisions...
Curran said that the whole question of euthanasia raises the basic "question of the quality of life." The undergraduate medical ethics program was created because the moral and legal problems of the question must be encountered before the student begins his internship and active involvement in the medical field, Curran says, adding: "There is a very, very strong drive to help patients on the part of most of those who intend to practice medicine, but they must develop moral and ethical standards early in their training...