physician-assisted suicide upheld

In a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Oregon law that allows physician-assisted suicide in the state.

The law gives doctors authority to deliver lethal amounts of drugs to the most gravely ill of patients. According to the law, patients must have an incurable disease and fewer than six months to live, as estimated by two independent physicians.

I don't understand the federal and state implications of today's decision, but in terms of my profession, I find the ruling disappointing. I think physician-assisted suicide violates the most basic premise of a doctor's duty: to do no harm. That said, I believe the responsibility of controlling such violations lies within our own medical field.

The American Medical Association, the largest professional organization in the country representing physicians, has policy that states that:

Our AMA strongly opposes any bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia, as these practices are fundamentally inconsistent with the physician's role as healer.

It goes without saying that doctors participating in physician-assisted suicide are thus violating standards set by their own profession. Even stronger language can be found in the AMA's Code of Medical Ethics, a large body of work that many states use to establish their own ethical guidelines:

It is understandable, though tragic, that some patients in extreme duress--such as those suffering from a terminal, painful, debilitating illness--may come to decide that death is preferable to life. However, allowing physicians to participate in assisted suicide would cause more harm than good. Physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician's role as healer, would be difficult or impossible to control, and would pose serious societal risks.

I believe those "serious societal risks" include the erosion of our own profession. Since 1997, 200 patients in Oregon have died at the hands of their physician!

The AMA, in cooperation with other professional societies, needs to publicly denounce those physicians in Oregon that continue to administer unethical doses of drugs. The legality of this law puts more pressure than ever on our profession to regulate itself.