Citation

Hiscox WE. Med. Law Int. 2007; 8(3): 197-220.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/096853320700800301

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Pressure to permit voluntary euthanasia and/or physician-assisted suicide is mounting in several jurisdictions around the world. The state of Oregon, which legalised physician-assisted suicide in 1997, provides valuable guidance on the feasibility of effective regulation. The Oregon experience provides the focus of this article. The article comprises two parts. Part I critically analyses the Oregon Death with Dignity Act and evaluates the adequacy of the legislative safeguards. Part II examines the implementation of the Death with Dignity Act. It outlines the significant official findings since physician-assisted suicide was legalised, and calls attention to worrisome aspects and identifiable trends. It then provides an overall assessment of the legislation in light of the available empirical data. © 2007 A B Academic Publishers.

Language: en

Keywords

United States; human; suicide; law; medical ethics; review; euthanasia; consultation; terminal disease; acquired immune deficiency syndrome; competence; amyotrophic lateral sclerosis