Throughout my years of working as a hospice doctor, I have frequently argued against the legalization of physician-assisted suicide. And while I welcome the Supreme Court s unanimous finding yesterday that there is no constitutional right to a lethal prescription, I feel little reason to rejoice. A crisis still surrounds the care of the dying in America. Doctors neglect, even avoid, the patients they cannot cure. Doctors often ignore their dying patients preferences for care.
Doctors often fail to address their dying patients physical suffering.
Instead, continued, unnecessary medical treatment often contributes to the dying person s pain. Families of the dying routinely face financial devastation on top of their grief. And for elderly patients living alone or in institutions, poverty and isolation worsen the fear and suffering they naturally feel as they face the end of their lives. In the wake of the Supreme Court s decision, the debate will shift to the states. But the legalization of physician-assisted suicide is a particularly dangerous proposition unless fundamental changes are made in the care of the dying.