Physician-Assisted Suicide

Should physician-assisted suicide be an option for patients with terminal illness? Our latest Clinical Decisions presents viewpoints on both sides of the debate. Read the arguments, make your choice, and share your comments at NEJM.org. Stage John Wallace is a 72-year-old man with metastatic pancreatic cancer. At time of diagnosis, the cancer was metastatic to his regional lymph nodes and liver. He was treated with palliative chemotherapy, but the disease continued to progress. Recently he has become jaundiced, and he has very little appetite. He has been seeing a palliative care physician and a social worker on an ongoing basis. His abdominal pain is now well controlled with high-dose narcotics, but the narcotics have caused constipation. In addition to seeing the social worker, he has also been seeing a psychologist to help him to cope . . .