Publisher's Synopsis
The euthanasia debate is drawing more and more attention from the medical profession and the public. This book is the first comprehensive study on the scope and practice of euthanasia and other medical decisions concerning the end of life (MDEL) . It investigates such MDELs as assisted suicide, non-treatment decisions, life terminating acts without explicit request, the alleviation of pain and symptoms with possible life-shortening effects and do-not-resuscitate decisions, thus giving an idea of the relative importance of different types of decisions and their consequences. The information is based on well-defined samples, and the quantitative basis of the study is very strong; it shows that MDELs are taken in over half of all non-acute deaths and are therefore an important part of medical practice.;The text comprises a theoretical framework and a detailed account of the design and the results of the study, with more than 100 tables and figures containing incidence estimates, detailed information on the characteristics of the patients and doctors and the decision situations involved.;The book is directed to a wide audience of professionals who are being confronted with the increasingly complex decision situations at the end of life, such as physicians and health-care workers, as well as to those who are interested in the issues at stake in the euthanasia debate, such as ethicists and health-law specialists and especially members of right-to-die societies and pro-life organizations.
