{"id":4898,"date":"2017-04-04T15:46:25","date_gmt":"2017-04-04T19:46:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/?p=4898"},"modified":"2017-04-04T15:46:25","modified_gmt":"2017-04-04T19:46:25","slug":"grand-rounds-physician-assisted-suicide-and-euthanasia-of-non-terminal-psychiatric-patients-an-emerging-ethical-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2017\/04\/grand-rounds-physician-assisted-suicide-and-euthanasia-of-non-terminal-psychiatric-patients-an-emerging-ethical-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Grand Rounds: Physician Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia of Non-Terminal Psychiatric Patients: An Emerging Ethical Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In the Netherlands and Belgium, physician-assisted suicide (PAS) and euthanasia by lethal injection are being made available to psychiatric patients with non-terminal illnesses, commonly administered by their own treating psychiatrists giving the injection. Canada now offers PAS for non-terminal patients, and is on the verge of making it available to those with psychiatric disorders only. This raises profound ethical questions, for psychiatrists in particular, who have a core ethos to prevent suicide, help patients cope with suffering, find alternative paths to a better future, even make meaning of suffering. Allowing psychiatrists to help their patients with suicide inverts the fundamental ethical framework and very definition of what it means to be a psychiatrist.<\/p>\n<p>This lecture examines the history of developments in Europe, Canada, and the U.S. regarding physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia of non-terminal psychiatric patients. Data from Belgium and Netherlands are reviewed. The positions of medical and psychiatric organizations around the world are shown. Fundamental ethical arguments in favor of such practices are contrasted with those against. Clinical, social, and professional consequences are reviewed, including some specific cases, relevant data, and evidence for a \u201cslippery slope\u201d of these practices. Finally, the way these practices challenge the fundamental identity of the psychiatric profession will be discussed, and how this is an unanticipated consequence of pursuing parity for the mentally ill.<\/p>\n<p>Mark S. Komrad MD, DFAPA, FACP<br \/>\nAuthor of:\u00a0\u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youneedhelpbook.com\/\">You Need Help:\u00a0A Step-by-Step Plan to Convince a Loved One to Get Counseling\u201d<br \/>\n<\/a>Ethicist-in-Residence, Sheppard Pratt<br \/>\nAPA Ethics Committee<br \/>\nFaculty of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland<\/p>\n<p>Psychiatry Grand Rounds<br \/>\n<strong>Tuesday, April 25, 2017<br \/>\n<\/strong>11 a.m. to 12:30 pm.<br \/>\nDean\u2019s Conference Room<br \/>\nE &amp; R Building<br \/>\nCamden<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the Netherlands and Belgium, physician-assisted suicide (PAS) and euthanasia by lethal injection are being made available to psychiatric patients with non-terminal illnesses, commonly administered by their own treating psychiatrists giving the injection. Canada now offers PAS for non-terminal patients, and is on the verge of making it available to those with psychiatric disorders only. &#8230; <span class=\"more\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2017\/04\/grand-rounds-physician-assisted-suicide-and-euthanasia-of-non-terminal-psychiatric-patients-an-emerging-ethical-crisis\/\">[Read more&#8230;]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-bkerekes","4":"post-4898","6":"format-standard","7":"category-uncategorized"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Grand Rounds: Physician Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia of Non-Terminal Psychiatric Patients: An Emerging Ethical Crisis - Weekly Rounds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Grand Rounds: Physician Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia of Non-Terminal Psychiatric Patients: An Emerging Ethical Crisis - Weekly Rounds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the Netherlands and Belgium, physician-assisted suicide (PAS) and euthanasia by lethal injection are being made available to psychiatric patients with non-terminal illnesses, commonly administered by their own treating psychiatrists giving the injection. Canada now offers PAS for non-terminal patients, and is on the verge of making it available to those with psychiatric disorders only. ... [Read more...]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2017\/04\/grand-rounds-physician-assisted-suicide-and-euthanasia-of-non-terminal-psychiatric-patients-an-emerging-ethical-crisis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Weekly Rounds\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-04-04T19:46:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"bkerekes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"bkerekes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2017\/04\/grand-rounds-physician-assisted-suicide-and-euthanasia-of-non-terminal-psychiatric-patients-an-emerging-ethical-crisis\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2017\/04\/grand-rounds-physician-assisted-suicide-and-euthanasia-of-non-terminal-psychiatric-patients-an-emerging-ethical-crisis\/\",\"name\":\"Grand Rounds: Physician Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia of Non-Terminal Psychiatric Patients: An Emerging Ethical Crisis - Weekly Rounds\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-04-04T19:46:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/#\/schema\/person\/05e7c3bad4be5c522452b9b39fd2f341\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2017\/04\/grand-rounds-physician-assisted-suicide-and-euthanasia-of-non-terminal-psychiatric-patients-an-emerging-ethical-crisis\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2017\/04\/grand-rounds-physician-assisted-suicide-and-euthanasia-of-non-terminal-psychiatric-patients-an-emerging-ethical-crisis\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2017\/04\/grand-rounds-physician-assisted-suicide-and-euthanasia-of-non-terminal-psychiatric-patients-an-emerging-ethical-crisis\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Grand Rounds: Physician Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia of Non-Terminal Psychiatric Patients: An Emerging Ethical Crisis\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/\",\"name\":\"Weekly Rounds\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/#\/schema\/person\/05e7c3bad4be5c522452b9b39fd2f341\",\"name\":\"bkerekes\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53c3f72ca67516193e1db2dacc25d600fb40f31a771a362cec834f4c57547a63?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53c3f72ca67516193e1db2dacc25d600fb40f31a771a362cec834f4c57547a63?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"bkerekes\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/author\/bkerekes\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Grand Rounds: Physician Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia of Non-Terminal Psychiatric Patients: An Emerging Ethical Crisis - Weekly Rounds","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Grand Rounds: Physician Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia of Non-Terminal Psychiatric Patients: An Emerging Ethical Crisis - Weekly Rounds","og_description":"In the Netherlands and Belgium, physician-assisted suicide (PAS) and euthanasia by lethal injection are being made available to psychiatric patients with non-terminal illnesses, commonly administered by their own treating psychiatrists giving the injection. Canada now offers PAS for non-terminal patients, and is on the verge of making it available to those with psychiatric disorders only. ... [Read more...]","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2017\/04\/grand-rounds-physician-assisted-suicide-and-euthanasia-of-non-terminal-psychiatric-patients-an-emerging-ethical-crisis\/","og_site_name":"Weekly Rounds","article_published_time":"2017-04-04T19:46:25+00:00","author":"bkerekes","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"bkerekes","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2017\/04\/grand-rounds-physician-assisted-suicide-and-euthanasia-of-non-terminal-psychiatric-patients-an-emerging-ethical-crisis\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2017\/04\/grand-rounds-physician-assisted-suicide-and-euthanasia-of-non-terminal-psychiatric-patients-an-emerging-ethical-crisis\/","name":"Grand Rounds: Physician Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia of Non-Terminal Psychiatric Patients: An Emerging Ethical Crisis - Weekly Rounds","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-04-04T19:46:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/#\/schema\/person\/05e7c3bad4be5c522452b9b39fd2f341"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2017\/04\/grand-rounds-physician-assisted-suicide-and-euthanasia-of-non-terminal-psychiatric-patients-an-emerging-ethical-crisis\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2017\/04\/grand-rounds-physician-assisted-suicide-and-euthanasia-of-non-terminal-psychiatric-patients-an-emerging-ethical-crisis\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/2017\/04\/grand-rounds-physician-assisted-suicide-and-euthanasia-of-non-terminal-psychiatric-patients-an-emerging-ethical-crisis\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Grand Rounds: Physician Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia of Non-Terminal Psychiatric Patients: An Emerging Ethical Crisis"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/","name":"Weekly Rounds","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/#\/schema\/person\/05e7c3bad4be5c522452b9b39fd2f341","name":"bkerekes","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53c3f72ca67516193e1db2dacc25d600fb40f31a771a362cec834f4c57547a63?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/53c3f72ca67516193e1db2dacc25d600fb40f31a771a362cec834f4c57547a63?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"bkerekes"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/author\/bkerekes\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4898"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4899,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4898\/revisions\/4899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cooperhealth.org\/weeklyrounds\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}