Citation

Materstvedt LJ, Magelssen M. J. Med. Ethics 2016; 42(9): 621-624.

Affiliation

Centre for Medical Ethics, Institute of Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1136/medethics-2015-103128

PMID

27114470

Abstract

This article is a response to Raphael Cohen-Almagor's paper entitled 'First do no harm: intentionally shortening lives of patients without their explicit request in Belgium'. His paper deals with very important matters of life and death, however its concept usage is in part misleading. For instance, the fact that medical murder takes place both in Belgium and the Netherlands is missed. Cohen-Almagor calls such acts 'worrying' and considers them to be 'abuse'. However, it remains an open question whether or not there can be such a thing as legitimate murder in a medical context. From the combined perspectives of justice and the duty to end unbearable suffering, there might be. Thus, key arguments for euthanasia are also prominent in an argument for medical murder.

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Language: en