Case against Assisted Suicide

Kathleen Foley, M.D., is professor of neurology at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University and director of the Project on Death in America of the Open Society Institute and Soros Foundation.Herbert Hendin, M.D., is professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at New York Medical College and medical director of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

• PrefaceAcknowledgementsList of Contributors Introduction: A Medical, Ethical, Legal, and Psychosocial PerspectivePart I: Autonomy, Compassion, and Rational SuicideChapter 1. "I Will Give No Deadly Drug": Why Doctors Must Not KillChapter 2. Compassion Is Not EnoughChapter 3. Reason, Self-determination, and Physician-Assisted Suicide Chapter 4. The Rise and Fall of the "Right" to Assisted SuicidePart II: Practice Versus TheoryChapter 5. The Dutch ExperienceChapter 6. Palliative Care and Euthanasia in the Netherlands: Observations of a Dutch PhysicianChapter 7. The Oregon Experiment Chapter 8. Oregon's Culture of SilenceChapter 9. Deadly Days in DarwinPart III: Reason To Be ConcernedChapter 10. Not Dead YetChapter 11. Vulnerable People: Practical Rejoinders to Claims in Favor of Assisted SuicideChapter 12. Depression and the Will to Live in the Psychological Landscape of Terminally Ill PatientsPart IV: A Better WayChapter 13. A Hospice PerspectiveChapter 14. Compassionate Care, Not Assisted SuicideConclusion: Changing the Culture NotesIndex

The writing is of uniformly high quality, and the book achieves stylistic consistency while still reflecting an individual voice in each chapter. The book is sorely needed. -- Jeffrey M. Lyness New England Journal of Medicine The methods of palliative care, or comfort care, have in the past few decades reached a level of effectiveness such that suffering thought at first to be intractable can almost always be relieved. And this is the ultimate message of this vastly important book that now makes its timely appearance. -- Sherwin B. Nuland, M.D. New Republic A major contribution to our understanding of the practice, theory, and limitations of assisted suicide and euthanasia in seriously ill patients. The book is superbly written and intellectually challenging. I am convinced that it will become standard reading for all-whether advocates or opponents of assisted suicide-who want to think more deeply and learn more about what we need to do to improve end-of-life care. The Lancet The book is timely and important in the life and death debate that is of personal relevance to us all. Review of Disability Studies 2004 This excellent book will be a valuable resource for anybody interested in the delivery of better end-of-life care, whether they are clinicians, ethicists, or health care policymakerrs. International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care Foley, Hendin, and their contributors have produced a truly outstanding resource. Cambridge Law Journal 2003 Brings together some well known and respected players in the debate, whose contributions lend considerable weight to the case... A thought-provoking and comprehensive look at the case against assisted suicide. Bulletin of Medical Ethics 2005 Provides a comprehensive, persuasively argued case against assisted suicide. -- Tony O'Brien Metapsychology 2006