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Full-Text Articles in Law
Withholding And Withdrawing Life Support From Adults At Common Law, Joan M. Gilmour
Withholding And Withdrawing Life Support From Adults At Common Law, Joan M. Gilmour
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
This article examines the circumstances in which life support can legally be withheld or withdrawn from adults. It analyzes the situation of patients who are both capable and incapable of making decisions, taking into account recent jurisprudence in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Where competence is not an issue, both law and modern medicine espouse a strong normative commitment to patient self-determination. However, when no clear indication of the patient's treatment preference can be ascertained because of decisional incapacity, then the question of terminating life support is much more difficult. The author describes and analyzes the two …
Physician-Assisted Suicide: The Legal And Practical Contours, Anthony J. Dangelantonio
Physician-Assisted Suicide: The Legal And Practical Contours, Anthony J. Dangelantonio
RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)
This paper considers current medical and legal perspectives on patients' right to assistance in dying. In highlighting the competing policy objectives that must be resolved, it examines failed legislative initiatives in Washington and California. It also considers a pending New Hampshire proposal. The last shows the difficulty of simultaneously alleviating physician's objections and achieving proponents' goals.
Has The Time Come For Doctor Death: Should Physician-Assisted Suicide Be Legalized?, Wendy N. Weigand
Has The Time Come For Doctor Death: Should Physician-Assisted Suicide Be Legalized?, Wendy N. Weigand
Journal of Law and Health
A "true" doctor-assisted suicide can be distinguished from euthanasia in that the patient is actually bringing his or her own life to an end. The doctor in some way facilitates the action, either by providing the means for the suicide, such as in the New England Journal of Medicine article, or by giving the patient some kind of instruction as to the best way of carrying out the act. The difference lies in the fact that it is the patient killing him or herself with the help or advice of a physician, not the physician acting directly to shorten the …
Medical Futility: Has Ending Life Support Become The Next Pro-Choice/Right To Life Debate, Daniel Robert Mordarski
Medical Futility: Has Ending Life Support Become The Next Pro-Choice/Right To Life Debate, Daniel Robert Mordarski
Cleveland State Law Review
This note will provide an analysis of the issue of medical futility and propose "solutions" to the issue. Part II considers the definition of "medical futility" and different ways to view the concept. In Part III, the position is forwarded that medical futility is a question of values which the medical profession is not necessarily more qualified than a layperson to answer. In Part IV, medical futility will be examined in the context of existing law. This section also addresses the potential tort liability of a health care provider who unilaterally takes certain actions based on the concept of medical …