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Euthanasia, Social Policy and Empirical Data

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Current Perspectives and Future Directions in Palliative Medicine

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Summary

Many opinions have been expressed about the issue of euthanasia and physician assisted suicide. These opinions tend to be passionate and highly polarized. Largely absent from these discussions is the issue of empirical data, pertaining to our understanding of patients who might make death-hastening requests.

This chapter reviews the small but growing literature which derives from data based sources. This data examines a number of issues that are salient to the euthanasia -physician assisted suicide debate. Included within this review are the following: 1) an overview of social policies regarding euthanasia/ physician assisted suicide in various different constituencies, 2) studies examining physician attitudes and practices, 3) public perceptions, and determinants of endorsement, of death hastening practices, 4) patient mediated variables — including mental health considerations — influencing a patients desire for hastened death. Such information provides a less impassioned understanding of these issues, and may help inform the development of social policy, research priorities and clinical standards of palliative care.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Soros Faculty Scholar, Project on Death in America, University of Manitoba, PZ202 - 771 Bannatyne Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, R3E 0T4

    Harvey Max Chochinov MD, Ph.D. FRCPC (Professor of Psychiatry)

Authors
  1. Harvey Max Chochinov MD, Ph.D. FRCPC
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Shikoku Cancer Center, 13 Horinouchi, Matsuyama, Ehime, 790-8501, Japan

    Kenji Eguchi (Vice Director) (Vice Director)

  2. Institut Jules Bordet, Centre des Tumeurs de l’Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Rue Héger-Bordet 1, 1000, Bruxelles, Belgique

    Jean Klastersky (Professor and Chief of Medicine) (Professor and Chief of Medicine)

  3. Ontario Cancer Institute/Princess Margaret Hospital, 610 University Ave., Toronto, Ontario, M5G 2M9, Canada

    Ronald Feld (Professor of Medicine) (Professor of Medicine)

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© 1998 Springer-Verlag Tokyo

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Chochinov, H.M. (1998). Euthanasia, Social Policy and Empirical Data. In: Eguchi, K., Klastersky, J., Feld, R. (eds) Current Perspectives and Future Directions in Palliative Medicine. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-68494-7_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-68494-7_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Tokyo

  • Print ISBN: 978-4-431-68496-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-4-431-68494-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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