Tragically, the patient remained on the psych unit for several weeks, recovering from presumptive depression, until he suffered an arrhythmia, coded and died. What my professor had said publicly is not what he did privately. He maintained his public, professional stance against assisted suicide, while privately recommending that this patient be allowed to take matters into his own hands. The details of an individual case, he told me, allow for an exception to the rules. Acceptance of professionalism makes physicians different from others who hold themselves out to offer care and treatment.
Professions have publicly available codes of ethics.
Professions regulate themselves. Professions create, accept, meet and monitor standards of competency. Publicly, professionals say that they will hold the good of those they serve to be greater than their own good. Acceptance of medical professional duties and privileges implies acceptance of the medical ethical principles that underlie them. Private actions are not the subject of codes or principles of medical ethics, generally speaking.