by Sherwin Nuland

About the author: Sherwin Nuland is a Yale University surgery professor and the author of How We Die.

Not long ago, a leading U.S. medical school held a conference on the subject of death. The most hotly debated topic was the role of physicians when life nears an end. Late on the morning of the first day, as arguments moved back and forth, an audience member made a stunning declaration.

A Doctor’s Declaration

In the unemotional manner he might use to describe a clinical report, a respected oncologist who had treated thousands of late-stage cancer patients announced that he had kept count of the patients who had asked him to help them die. “There were 127 men and women, and I saw to it that 25 of them got their...