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PubMedDate not supplied

A reexamination of euthanasia: issues raised by Final Exit.

The debate over euthanasia continues to be a concern for nurses and consumers of health care. The recent publication of Final Exit, a book addressing euthanasia and how to commit suicide, has stirred much controversy. The authors present an examination of the current legal, religious, and professional issues surrounding euthanasia. Nursing implications are described in relation to caring for terminally ill patients and responding to patients' need for information and possible requests for assisted suicide.

Euthanasia↗
PubMed1991

Final Exit: a wake-up call to hospice.

The publication of Final Exit resulted in a public response that was exuberant, largely sympathetic and, to many within hospice, disquieting. The book and the public response it engendered can not be understood without exploring the Hemlock Society and the political agenda which both the Society and book advance. Hospice must begin a response to this book, and any discussion with Hemlock supporters, from a basis of consensus. Hospice must acknowledge that those within the euthanasia/assisted suicide movement believe as deeply as we in hospice in the need to address the suffering of people enduring the effects of terminal illness. We must further acknowledge that there remain unmet needs in the care of the dying which for primarily socio-political reasons hospice has been unable to resolve. There are several compelling reasons for hospice as an organized movement to oppose the political initiatives of the Hemlock Society--at least in their present form and within the current social context. These reasons involve core ethical issues and issues of direct social consequence, each of which seems sufficient to reject the current proposals. Hospice programs and personnel must enter this debate in earnest. Before serious consideration is accorded to legalization of euthanasia/assisted suicide, we must insist that genuine access to comprehensive hospice/palliative care becomes a reality for all dying patients and their families.

Attitude to Death↗
PubMed2003

Suicide with inert gases: addendum to Final Exit.

Suicide by asphyxiation with a plastic bag placed over the head is a method that has been advocated by right-to-die groups. Recently, such groups have proposed the introduction of helium into the plastic bag as a means of hastening death. Helium is readily available at toy stores, where it is sold in tanks for balloon inflation. It produces asphyxiation by the exclusion of oxygen in enclosed spaces. We report 7 fatalities throughout an 18-month period involving plastic bag suffocation in conjunction with helium use. These fatalities coincide with publication of an update to a popular right-to-die text in which this method is described. Although right-to-die literature was absent from all scenes, this method was not previously observed in our jurisdiction, and the deaths likely reflect exposure to this information. Because of analytical difficulties in testing for helium in biologic specimens, death certification rests on scene investigation.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

From the editors.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Attitude↗
PubMed1994

Increase in fatal suicidal poisonings and suffocations in the year Final Exit was published: a national study.

Final Exit was a best-selling book that recommended poisoning and suffocation by plastic bag as lethal means of suicide for those with terminal medical illnesses. The authors sought to determine whether the number of suicides involving these methods increased in the United States in 1991, the year the book was published, compared with 1990. Suicidal asphyxiations involving a plastic bag increased 30.8%, from 334 to 437, and poisonings increased 5.4%, from 3,143 to 3,314. There was no change in the number of suicides involving each of the other methods or in the total number of suicides between 1990 and 1991. These ecological data support, but cannot conclusively prove, the hypothesis that Final Exit influenced the choice of lethal means of suicidal individuals.

Asphyxia↗