In recent years "right-to-die" movements have brought into the public consciousness something most physicians have long known: that in some hopeless medical conditions, heroic efforts to extend life may no longer be humane, and the physician must be prepared to allow the patient to die. Physician responses to patients' requests for "natural death" or "death with dignity" have been, in general, sensitive and compassionate. But the successes of the right-to-die movement have had a bitterly ironic result: institutional and legal protections for "natural death" have, in some cases, actually made it more painful to die.
Type
text;
citation_publisher
Hastings Center
citation_volume
13
citation_issue
2
citation_firstpage
13
Citation_lastpage
16
citation_keywords
Death; Dying; Right to die; Natural death
Subject (LCSH)
Right to die; Death
citation_language
eng;
Bibliographic Citation
Battin, M. P. (1983). Least worst death: selective refusal of treatment. Hastings Center Report,13(2), 13-6.
