Report 59 of the AMA Board of Trustees (A-96). Physician-assisted suicide. Reference Committee on Amendments to Constitution and Bylaws.

This Board of Trustees report calls for reaffirmation of the position of the American Medical Association (AMA) in opposition to physicians assisting their patients in committing suicide. The AMA maintains that the appropriate step for physicians is not to assist a patient in death but to provide compassion and palliative care. In providing end-of-life care, the option of allowing physicians to intentionally cause the death of patients is a line that should not be crossed. This position is based on the historical role of physicians as advocates for healing. The report discusses AMA activity to design and implement a comprehensive physician education plan on end-of-life care in response to the House of Delegates' action in adopting Board of Trustees Report 48-I-95, "Quality Care at the End of Life." This plan will further the AMA's commitment that patients should receive high quality care during every stage of life, including the end of life. The goal of this educational campaign is to advance the medical culture by making palliative treatment and care directions based on values-based advance care planning the standard of care for meeting the needs of patients at the end of life. The basis for this activity will be the acknowledgment that physicians, while unable to always provide a cure, should always be able to relieve suffering, address the psychological needs of patients at the end of life, add value to remaining life, and help patients die with dignity. The report presents information on state legislative activities and judicial actions relating to physician-assisted suicide. The report also presents a discussion on the ethical under-pinnings against physician participation in patients' suicides. This report recommends that: the AMA reaffirm current policies 140.952 and 140.966 (AMA Policy Compendium), in accordance with Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs Opinion 2.211 (opposition to physician-assisted suicide); the AMA initiate an educational campaign to make palliative treatment and care directions based on values-based advance care planning the standard of care for meeting the needs of patients at the end of life; the AMA continue to seek out opportunities to present the views of medicine on physician-assisted suicide and improving the quality of care for patients at the end of life; the AMA disseminate this report throughout the Federation with a request that it be distributed to local physicians; and the Board of Trustees present the House of Delegates with an update on these and related activities at the 1996 Interim Meeting and the 1997 Annual Meeting.