A Turning Point?

Lawrence O. Gostin, JD; Anna E. Roberts, LLB, MIPH

This Viewpoint discusses the debate over physician-assisted dying and the current turning point in public opinion regarding its support.

This Viewpoint discusses the debate over physician-assisted dying and the current turning point in public opinion regarding its support.

In 2014, Brittany Maynard, who was dying of brain cancer, took a deliberative decision supported by her family to move from California to Oregon to utilize the Oregon Death with Dignity Act. Highly visible, deeply personal decisions by Maynard and others have influenced social and political discourse around physician-assisted dying (PAD). Although PAD broadly encompasses physician-assisted suicide (PAS) (medicines prescribed specifically for the purpose of being taken by patients to end their lives) and euthanasia (lethal medicines administered by physicians at the patient’s request), states currently only authorize the former.

JAMA