Euthanasia: A Challenge to Medical Ethics

For many decades the euthanasia debate is particularly controversial in modern societies. Indeed, in the northern European tradition, as well as in countries of Anglo-American influence, euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide and other end-of-life decisions are an important source of social debate. It is well known that in many circumstances, medical decision-making often contributes to hasten the death of a particular patient and different societies have different understandings with regard to the specific role of health professionals in this setting. Moreover, death usually happens in the hospital, far away from family and friends, at an environment more prone to loneliness and abandonment. The rise of the hospice movement in the sixties and, more recently of palliative care as a new philosophical and practical approach to death and dying, is also a sign that this issue should be properly addressed as a major cultural transition. Indeed, as suggested by John Keown in his book Euthanasia, Ethics and Public Policy “whether the law should permit voluntary euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide is one of the most vital questions facing all modern societies” [1].