October, 20th 2021.
A letter to the editor of the Boston Globe was published on October 17 from Dr. Ronald W. Pies of Lexington, Dr. Mark Rollo of Fitchburg, and Dr. Thomas Sullivan of Beverly, who weigh in on the assisted suicide debate in Massachusetts.
The letter maintains that there is no need or ethical basis for physician-assisted suicide. It is a misconception that one of the top five reasons patients request physician-assisted suicide is because they are in unbearable physical pain. Instead, data from Oregon show that patients requesting lethal drugs are doing so because they fear losing autonomy, enjoyment of life, personal dignity, and/or becoming a burden on their families. Proper care from doctors and physicians can make a huge impact on patients by addressing issues like pain and depression. Data show that almost 50% of patients who requested assisted suicide who are cared for in these ways change their minds.
Rather than assisting in patients’ suicide, physicians and legislators should be focused on providing accessible state-of-the-art palliative care to terminally ill patients.
Read the published letter: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/10/17/opinion/debate-over-assisted-suicide-renewed-mass/?p1=BGSearch_Overlay_Results
Read more on this subject:Â Boston Globe: Legalizing assisted suicide would send a devastating message