Dispensing death, desiring death: An exploration of medical roles and patient motivation during the period of legalized euthanasia in Australia

A qualitative case study was conducted to explore the clinical decision mak ing processes that underpinned the practice of euthanasia under the Rights of the Terminally III (ROTI) Act. The key informant for this research was P hilip Nitschke, the general practitioner responsible for the legal cases of euthanasia. His information was supported by extensive document analysis b ased on the public texts created by patients in the form of letters and doc umentaries. Further collaborating sources were those texts generated by the media, rights groups, politicians, the coroner's court, and the literature on euthanasia and assisted suicide. A key study finding was that the ROTI legislation did not adequately provide for the specific medical situation i n the Northern Territory, Australia. The medical roles, as proscribed by th e legislation, carried many inherent assumptions about the health care cont ext and the availability of appropriately qualified medical staff committed to providing euthanasia. These assumptions translated into difficulties in establishing clinical practices for the provision of euthanasia. A further finding concerned the motivations of those who requested euthanasia. This article addresses the medical roles and the motivations of those seeking eu thanasia.