James K. Boehnlein

About the author: James K. Boehnlein is associate professor of psychiatry and assistant dean for curriculum at Oregon Health Science University.

The act of physician-assisted suicide is inconsistent with the physician's role as healer. If physician-assisted suicide becomes a routine option, the responsibility of the doctor to assist patients at the end of their lives will be diminished. Societal acceptance of physician-assisted suicide will not increase patients' autonomy, as supporters claim. Rather, patients will be pressured in subtle ways by doctors, family members, and a cost-conscious health care system to end their lives prematurely. The ethical role of physicians is to help patients heal, not to hasten their deaths.

Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) is a complex issue that strikes a chord across all segments of society and throughout medicine and allied fields. It involves discussion and...