BE IT RESOLVED

Jeffrey P. McGovern, MD

In a 2019 survey to 1000 randomly chosen US physicians (Yale J Biol Med. 2019; 92(4): 575585) results revealed a discrepancy between a willingness to endorse and a willingness to practice physician assisted suicide (PAS). In addition, physicians were generally misinformed with regard to why patients seek PAS, and they are uncertain about the adequacy of safeguards. Lastly, physicians reveal a wariness of the slippery slope with respect to the legalization of PAS nationwide.

In a review of the attitudes and practices of PAS in the US, Canada and Europe (JAMA. 2016; 316(1):79-90) the authors report the relative rarity of the practice of PAS with most cases involving those with cancer and pain.

Be It Resolved

That the PAMED has concerns about changes in medical and ethical standards, changes in decision-making procedures, and violation of the doctor-patient relationship, and BE IT RESOLVED the PAMED recommits to ethical principles of medicine based on the inherent dignity of life, even in its frailty; to strengthening and restoring the ethical medical decision-making processes and the physicianpatient relationship.

Be It Resolved

That the PAMED joins its voice to other organizations in opposition to any legislation advocating or mandating for Physician Assisted Suicide or any law permitting prescriptions or interventions for the explicit or implied purpose of a person ending his or her life.

To my surprise no previous physician proposed such a resolution to the House of Delegates. There are many reasons why this proposal is necessary at this time but first it would be important to detail some recent studies on this issue. Especially at this age of instant information, “fake news” and partisan divides, the physician must do his/her duty in reviewing the data and making an informed and reasoned decision.

Finally, in a position paper by the American College of Physicians (Ann Intern Med. 2017; 167(8):576-578) forcefully contend that the ethical arguments against legalizing PAS remain the most compelling and concludes that they remain committed to “improving care for patients throughout and at the end of life.”

The data show that the practice of PAS is indeed on a slippery slope. As physicians caring for both the strong and vulnerable we have the moral duty to provide the best care possible for our charges. That kind of care is truly individualized but can also reflect the care we as physicians provide corporately.

In other words, the care we provide to our individual patients can also reflect on the care that physicians provide in our communities and nation. If we neglect the pain and moral distress of our patients and seek the way of PAS, how will our own patients and patients across this fruited land ever trust us with their intimate needs? If we as physicians do not seek a better way for our patients, I suspect that the physician will be surely swallowed up into the corporate morass of utilitarianism. We can all disagree on the minutiae of our practices, but let us agree that we must persist in doing right for the patient and staying at their side in their time of greatest need.

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