Kligler, a retired internist who has terminal prostate cancer, and Steinbach, who treats terminally ill patients, are plaintiffs in the case filed in 2016 against state Attorney General Maura Healey and Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O’Keefe.
They sought to have Suffolk Superior Court in Boston declare that physician-assisted suicide is not manslaughter. They also sought an injunction to prohibit prosecution of doctors who engage in such conduct, among other requests for relief.
They also argued that prosecuting physicians who participate in what is also known as medical aid in dying is against the state constitution and that physicians have the right to provide information about medical aid in dying to competent, terminally ill patients.
It was disappointing that Judge Mary K. Ames dismissed five out of six counts in the lawsuit Dec. 31, Kappos said…
The decision was applauded by Matt Valliere, executive director of the Patients Rights Action Fund.
“While I sympathize greatly with Dr. Kligler and all patients facing challenging diagnoses, assisted suicide is simply too dangerous and puts the most vulnerable in society — the terminally ill, people with disabilities, the elderly and those financially disadvantaged — at risk for abuse and coercion,” Valliere said in a statement.
“Residents of Massachusetts deserve better care and support, not death,” Valliere said.
Read more at the Cape Cod Times…