Heilig S, Brody R, Marcus F S, Shavelson L, Sussman P C
San Francisco Medical Society, CA 94108, USA.
West J Med. 1997 Jun;166(6):370-8.
Recent high court opinions and pending Supreme Court rulings on the legality of physician-hastened death necessitate a pragmatic response from the medical profession. Adopting a "harm reduction" perspective on this contentious topic, the Bay Area Network of Ethics Committees developed practice guidelines for responding to a patient request for hastened death. The guidelines will be offered to the local medical community for use by individuals and health care institutions if the practice of physician-hastened death becomes legal. A multidisciplinary consensus process was used in developing the guidelines, which address clinical, ethical, and procedural concerns.
近期高等法院关于医生协助死亡合法性的意见以及最高法院悬而未决的裁决，使得医学界必须做出务实的回应。在这个有争议的话题上，湾区伦理委员会网络从“减少伤害”的角度出发，制定了应对患者加速死亡请求的实践指南。如果医生协助死亡的做法合法化，这些指南将提供给当地医疗界供个人和医疗机构使用。制定这些指南采用了多学科共识程序，涉及临床、伦理和程序方面的问题。
