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Suicide: Issues in Physician-Assisted Suicide

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Encyclopedia of Primary Prevention and Health Promotion

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Introduction

From the ancient Greek era to the present day, end-of-life decisions have been an ethical dilemma in all aspects of society. Medical activism of the Middle Ages claimed that for every disease there is a cure and therefore it is a failure if medicine does not find the cure (Callahan, 1994). The influence of bioethics of the current millennium challenges many traditional concepts pertaining to the quality of life and the dignity of death. Within the last four decades, advanced medical technology has contributed extensively to the decline of infant mortality rates and infectious diseases and to the prolongation of life. Physician-assisted suicide is rapidly becoming a serious ethical dilemma in all aspects of society, primarily because of advanced medical technology that rather easily allows the prolongation of life. Hence, complex ethical issues regarding physician-assisted suicide emerge not only among medical people but also among the religious, legal, education,...

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  1. Kean University, Hutchinson Hall J304A, 1000 Morris Ave, Union, NJ, 07083, USA

    Maureen V. Himchak

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  1. Maureen V. Himchak
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Correspondence to Maureen V. Himchak .

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  1. Child & Family Agency of Southeastern Connecticut, New London, CT, USA

    Thomas P. Gullotta

  2. University of Connecticut, West Hartford, USA

    Martin Bloom

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Himchak, M.V. (2014). Suicide: Issues in Physician-Assisted Suicide. In: Gullotta, T.P., Bloom, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Primary Prevention and Health Promotion. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5999-6_317

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5999-6_317

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