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Previous Volume 337:1236-1239 October 23, 1997 Number 17 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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In rejecting a constitutional right to physician-assisted suicide earlier this year,^1,2 the U.S. Supreme Court appeared to preserve the distinction between the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment and assisted suicide or euthanasia. In fact, however, the Court undermined the distinction when it endorsed terminal sedation. Terminal sedation seems consistent with traditional medical care but often is a form of euthanasia. Moreover, it is a practice that is ethically more problematic than assisted suicide or voluntary euthanasia.

The Supreme Court's Opinions

In deciding against a right to assisted suicide, the Court faced the claim that such a right is necessary for some patients to ensure that . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Terminal Sedation

Terminal Sedation as a Form of Euthanasia

Terminal Sedation versus Assisted Suicide

Address reprint requests to Dr. Orentlicher, Visiting DeCamp Professor of Bioethics, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, 5 Ivy Ln., Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544.

References

Related Letters:

Terminal Sedation
Tonelli M. R., Lynn J., Orentlicher D.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 1998; 338:1230-1231, Apr 23, 1998. Correspondence

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