L. Ganzini et al., ATTITUDES OF OREGON PSYCHIATRISTS TOWARD PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE, The American journal of psychiatry, 153(11), 1996, pp. 1469-1475
Objective: After passage, in November 1994, of Oregon's ballot measure
legalizing physician-assisted suicide for terminally ill persons, the
authors surveyed psychiatrists in Oregon to determine their attitudes
toward assisted suicide, the factors influencing these attitudes, and
how they might both respond to ald follow up a request by a primary c
are physician to evaluate a terminally ill patient desiring assisted s
uicide. Method: An anonymous questionnaire was sent to al 418 Oregon p
sychiatrists. Results: Seventy-seven percent of psychiatrists (N=321)
returned the questionnaire. Two-thirds endorsed the view that a physic
ian should be permitted, under some circumstances, to write a prescrip
tion for a medication whose sole purpose would be to allow a patient t
o end his or her life. One-third endorsed the view that this practice
should never be permitted. Over half favored Oregon's assisted suicide
initiative becoming law. Psychiatrists' position on legalization of a
ssisted suicide influenced the likelihood that they would agree to eva
luate patients requesting assisted suicide and how they would follow u
p a evaluation of a competent patient desiring assisted suicide. Only
6% of psychiatrists were very confident that in a single evaluation th
ey could adequately assess whether a psychiatric disorder was impairin
g the judgment of a patient requesting assisted suicide. Conclusions:
Psychiatrists in Oregon are divided in their belief about the ethical
permissibility of assisted suicide, and their moral beliefs influence
how they might evaluate a patient requesting assisted suicide, should
this practice be legalized. Psychiatrists' confidence in their ability
to determine whether a psychiatric disorder such as depression was im
pairing the judgment of a patient requesting assisted suicide was low.