News Release

Annals of Internal Medicine, tip sheet for March 21, 2000

Peer-Reviewed Publication

American College of Physicians

March 21, 2000, Tip Sheet Annals of Internal Medicine is published by the American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine (ACP-ASIM), an organization of more than 115,000 physicians trained in internal medicine. The following is not intended to substitute for articles as sources of information. For an embargoed fax of an article, call 1-800-523-1546, ext. 2656 or 215-351-2656. Full content will be available on the Internet at www.acponline.org on March 21, 2000.

* * *

Special Supplement in March 21 Annals of Internal Medicine

Physician-Assisted Suicide Explored by Consensus Panel

Five papers on assisted suicide are published in the March 21, 2000, issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. The papers, from a diverse panel convened by the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Bioethics, discuss:

  • the role of guidelines in the practice of physician-assisted suicide,
  • assisted suicide compared with refusal of treatment,
  • choosing the least harmful palliative treatments of last resort,
  • responding to legal requests for physician-assisted suicide, and
  • should assisted suicide involve only physicians?

The panel, "Finding Common Ground: Assisted Suicide Consensus Panel," convened in 1997, sought not to argue the pros or cons of assisted suicide, according to an accompanying editorial, but to find common ground in determining safeguards that would "keep physician-assisted suicide voluntary, regulated, and most important, an option of last resort."

The national panel of Finding Common Ground was composed of experts known for their diverse viewpoints on assisted suicide. Panel members represented fields of medicine, nursing, psychology, hospice, law, philosophy, religion, and bioethics.

###


Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.