scholarly journals International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care Position Statement: Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liliana De Lima ◽  
Roger Woodruff ◽  
Katherine Pettus ◽  
Julia Downing ◽  
Rosa Buitrago ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
International Association ◽  
Position Statement ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Hospice And Palliative Care

scholarly journals EXPLORING THE CONCEPT OF UBUNTU IN RELATION TO DYING WITH DIGNITY IN PALLIATIVE AND HOSPICE CARE

Obiter ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ntokozo Mnyandu
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Human Dignity ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Hospice Care ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Dying With Dignity ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
The Right ◽  
Hospice And Palliative Care ◽  
Court Of Appeal

The Supreme Court of Appeal in Minister of Justice and Correctional Services v Estate Stransham-Ford raised more questions than the answers it provided. However, of note is the enquiry it made regarding the implications of palliative care in relation to whether the criminality of physician-assisted suicide and physician- administered euthanasia infringes a person’s dignity. In response, this paper aims to reconstruct – through the lens of Ubuntu – our understanding of human dignity and draw links with how the values of compassion and survival, which underpin Ubuntu, enjoin us as a re-affirmation of human dignity, to strive towards making hospice and palliative care readily available. Ultimately, this is done for the benefit of providing constitutionally sound reasons for why greater emphasis should be placed on palliative and hospice care when it comes to dying with dignity. To this effect, a conceptual framework of human dignity that is based on Ubuntu is summarised. This is done for the purpose of properly aligning the understanding of the right to dignity to one that represents our constitutional dispensation and ethos. Flowing from this is an extract of the values of compassion and survival that underpin Ubuntu. These values are then used to gain a lucid perspective, as to why – in our pursuit of providing a dignified death for terminally ill patients – greater emphasis should be placed on hospice and palliative care.

Euthanasia and Related Practices Worldwide

Crisis ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 109-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J Kelleher † ◽  
Derek Chambers ◽  
Paul Corcoran ◽  
Helen S Keeley ◽  
Eileen Williamson
Keyword(s):  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
International Association ◽  
Active Euthanasia ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
Passive Euthanasia ◽  
Medical Practitioners ◽  
General Acceptance ◽  
International Importance ◽  
Controversial Area ◽  
Active And Passive Euthanasia

The present paper examines the occurrence of matters relating to the ending of life, including active euthanasia, which is, technically speaking, illegal worldwide. Interest in this most controversial area is drawn from many varied sources, from legal and medical practitioners to religious and moral ethicists. In some countries, public interest has been mobilized into organizations that attempt to influence legislation relating to euthanasia. Despite the obvious international importance of euthanasia, very little is known about the extent of its practice, whether passive or active, voluntary or involuntary. This examination is based on questionnaires completed by 49 national representatives of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP), dealing with legal and religious aspects of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, as well as suicide. A dichotomy between the law and medical practices relating to the end of life was uncovered by the results of the survey. In 12 of the 49 countries active euthanasia is said to occur while a general acceptance of passive euthanasia was reported to be widespread. Clearly, definition is crucial in making the distinction between active and passive euthanasia; otherwise, the entire concept may become distorted, and legal acceptance may become more widespread with the effect of broadening the category of individuals to whom euthanasia becomes an available option. The “slippery slope” argument is briefly considered.

Terminal Sedation: Palliative Care for Intractable Pain, Post Glucksberg and Quill

2003 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-76
Author(s):  
Rob McStay
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Life Support ◽  
Intractable Pain ◽  
Terminal Sedation ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide ◽  
The Right ◽  
Artificial Life Support ◽  
Unconscious State

In 1997, the U.S. Supreme Court tacitly endorsed terminal sedation as an alternative to physician-assisted suicide, thus intensifying a debate in the legal and medical communities as to the propriety of terminal sedation and setting the stage for a new battleground in the “right to die” controversy. Terminal sedation is the induction of an unconscious state to relieve otherwise intractable distress, and is frequently accompanied by the withdrawal of any life-sustaining intervention, such as hydration and nutrition. This practice is a clinical option of “last resort” when less aggressive palliative care measures have failed. Terminal sedation has also been described as “the compromise in the furor over physician-assisted suicide.”Medical literature suggests that terminal sedation was a palliative care option long before the Supreme Court considered the constitutional implications of physician-assisted suicide. Terminal sedation has been used for three related but distinct purposes: (1) to relieve physical pain; (2) to produce an unconscious state before the withdrawal of artificial life support; and (3) to relieve non-physical suffering.

Proper palliative care should reduce requests for euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide

Pain Forum ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 195-196
Author(s):  
Charles B. Berde ◽  
Robert D. Truog ◽  
John J. Collins
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Assisted Suicide ◽  
Physician Assisted Suicide

Essential medicines for palliative care

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liliana De Lima ◽  
Lukas Radbruch ◽  
Eduardo Bruera
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Palliative Care ◽  
International Association ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Access To Medicines ◽  
Essential Medicines ◽  
World Health ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Hospice And Palliative Care

The essential medicines concept developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), states that there is a list of minimum medicines for a basic health-care system, including the most efficacious, safe, and cost-effective ones for priority conditions. According to the WHO, essential medicines are those that satisfy the primary health-care needs of the population. Thus, they should always be available, affordable, and cost-effective. However, the vast majority of the global population does not have access to essential medicines. Many organizations have called on governments to adopt policies to improve availability of these essential medicines and developed programmes and projects to increase awareness and knowledge. This chapter describes two such projects developed by the International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC), based on the essential medicines concept to improve access to medicines and appropriate palliative care: the IAHPC List of Essential Medicines in Palliative Care and the Opioid Essential Prescription Package.

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