Seduced by Death Doctors, Patients, and Assisted Suicide

by Hendin, Herbert

• ISBN13: 9780393317916
• ISBN10: 0393317919
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-04-17
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Summary

Few issues set off such impassioned debate as euthanasia and assisted suicide, but until now, no one has shown what their practice means in the actual experience of patients, doctors, and families. Herbert Hendin has studied such experience in the United States and also in the Netherlands, where assisted suicide and euthanasia are accepted. Using interviews with leading medical and legal architects of Dutch practices, and evaluating actual cases, Dr. Hendin addresses the difficult questions: Who actually makes the decision that a patient will die? How do the needs and character of family, friends, and doctors affect the choice? Throughout the book and in his conclusion, Dr. Hendin shows what we can do to find better options for those facing the final phase of life.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	9	(2)
Preface: A Victory for Patients	11	(12)
Introduction	23	(8)
1. Suicide, Assisted Suicide, and Medical Illness	31	(8)
2. Selling Suicide	39	(24)
3. Seduced by Death	63	(48)
4. The Politics of Euthanasia	111	(40)
5. A Cure for Suicide	151	(12)
6. Why the Netherlands? Why the United States?	163	(20)
7. Theory and Practice	183	(32)
8. Who Should Decide? Coma and Dementia	215	(14)
9. Caring Beyond Cure	229	(28)
Afterword: The Culture of Euthanasia	257	(12)
References	269	(26)
Index	295