Schuklenk Udo, van de Vathorst Suzanne
Department of Philosophy, Queens University, Ontario, Canada.
AMC, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
J Med Ethics. 2015 Aug;41(8):577-83. doi: 10.1136/medethics-2014-102458. Epub 2015 May 2.
Competent patients suffering from treatment-resistant depressive disorder should be treated no different in the context of assisted dying to other patients suffering from chronic conditions that render their lives permanently not worth living to them. Jurisdictions that are considering, or that have, decriminalised assisted dying are discriminating unfairly against patients suffering from treatment-resistant depression if they exclude such patients from the class of citizens entitled to receive assistance in dying.
患有难治性抑郁症的有行为能力的患者,在协助死亡的背景下,其治疗方式应与患有使其生命对他们而言永久不值得继续的慢性病的其他患者没有区别。正在考虑或已经将协助死亡合法化的司法管辖区,如果将患有难治性抑郁症的患者排除在有权接受协助死亡的公民类别之外,就是对这类患者进行不公平的歧视。