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Previous Volume 331:119-123 July 14, 1994 Number 2 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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Public-opinion polls have consistently shown that approximately 60 percent of the American public favors legal reform allowing physician-assisted death as a last resort to end the suffering of competent patients¹. Yet the voters in Washington State in 1991 and California in 1992 narrowly defeated referendums that would have permitted physicians to prescribe or administer lethal treatment to terminally ill patients. The lack of adequate safeguards to protect vulnerable patients and prevent abuse may have been an important factor in the rejection of these legislative proposals². In this article we describe a policy of legalized physician-assisted death restricted to . . . [Full Text of this Article]

The Legal Status of Physician-Assisted Death

The Rationale for Regulation

Legislation as an Appropriate Vehicle for Reform

Objectives of Regulatory Policy

The Scope of Legalized Physician-Assisted Death

Overview of Policy

Palliative-Care Consultants

Palliative-Care Committees

Balancing the Benefits and Burdens of Regulation

Evaluative Research

Conclusions

Address reprint requests to Dr. Miller at Box 348, Health Sciences Center, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908.

References

Related Letters:

Regulating Physician-Assisted Death
Callahan D., Feucht K. A., King D. R., Wright R. C., Lynn J., Billings J. A., Block S. D., Finlay I. G., Gilbert J., Randall F., Miller F. G., Quill T. E.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1994; 331:1656-1658, Dec 15, 1994. Correspondence

Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide in the Netherlands
Hendin H., Glick S. M., Miller F. G., Simcic K. J., van der Maas P. J., van der Wal G.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1997; 336:1385-1387, May 8, 1997. Correspondence

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Burke W. J., Seaton S. M., Earnest F., Golomb M., McHugh P. R., King S. A., Wood F. C., Hug G., Potter H. P., Tilson M. D., Angell M.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1997; 336:1524-1526, May 22, 1997. Correspondence

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