PHYSICIAN-HASTENED DEATH ADVISORY GUIDELINES FOR THE SAN-FRANCISCO BAY AREA FROM THE BAY AREA NETWORK OF ETHICS COMMITTEES

Recent high court opinions and pending Supreme Court rulings on the le gality of physician-hastened death necessitate a pragmatic response fr om the medical profession. Adopting a ''harm reduction'' perspective o n this contentious topic, the Bay Area Network of Ethics Committees de veloped practice guidelines for responding to a patient request for ha stened death. The guidelines will be offered to the local medical comm unity for use by individuals and health care institutions if the pract ice of physician-hastened death becomes legal. A multidisciplinary con sensus process was used in developing the guidelines, which address cl inical, ethical, and procedural concerns.