Cuperus-Bosma J M, van der Wal G, Looman C W, van der Maas P J
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
J Med Ethics. 1999 Feb;25(1):8-15. doi: 10.1136/jme.25.1.8.
To identify the factors that influence the assessment of reported cases of physician-assisted death by members of the public prosecution.
DESIGN/SETTING: At the beginning of 1996, during verbal interviews, 12 short case-descriptions were presented to a representative group of 47 members of the public prosecution in the Netherlands.
Assessment varied considerably between respondents. Some respondents made more "lenient" assessments than others. Characteristics of the respondents, such as function, personal-life philosophy and age, were not related to the assessment. Case characteristics, i.e. the presence of an explicit request, life expectancy and the type of suffering, strongly influenced the assessment. Of these characteristics, the presence or absence of an explicit request was the most important determinant of the decision whether or not to hold an inquest.
Although the presence of an explicit request, life expectancy and the type of suffering each influenced the assessment, each individual assessment was dependent on the assessor. The resulting danger of legal inequality and legal uncertainty, particularly in complicated cases, should be kept to a minimum by the introduction of some form of protocol and consultation in doubtful or boundary cases. The notification procedure already promotes a certain degree of uniformity in the prosecution policy.
确定影响公诉人员对报告的医师协助死亡案件评估的因素。
设计/背景：1996年初，在口头访谈期间，向荷兰47名公诉人员组成的代表性群体展示了12个简短的病例描述。
受访者之间的评估差异很大。一些受访者的评估比其他受访者更为“宽松”。受访者的特征，如职能、个人生活理念和年龄，与评估无关。病例特征，即是否有明确请求、预期寿命和痛苦类型，对评估有很大影响。在这些特征中，是否有明确请求是决定是否进行调查的最重要因素。
虽然是否有明确请求、预期寿命和痛苦类型都对评估有影响，但每个个体的评估都取决于评估者。在可疑或边缘案件中引入某种形式的规程和协商，应将法律不平等和法律不确定性的风险降至最低，特别是在复杂案件中。通知程序已经在一定程度上促进了起诉政策的一致性。
