Watch our latest webinar by Professor Natasha Michael (” Ethical Assessment and Accompaniment of Patients Expressing a Desire for Death “) and previous presentations here.
Open Letter from Doctors
Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide are not part of Medicine
As medical doctors, we are committed to supporting people to both live and die with dignity and comfort.
We are determined that state-of-the-art care should be available for people who are dying and also for people suffering from chronic disease, disability or mental illness.
We believe that universal and equitable access to effective pain and symptom management, including mental healthcare and palliative care, is a fundamental human right.
We fully support the right of a person with decision-making capacity to decline a treatment offered to them.
We support clinicians and patients agreeing to withdraw or withhold burdensome and ineffective treatment in favour of supportive and palliative care.
We believe that doctors have the training and skill to promote and maintain a caring doctor-patient relationship.
It is our view that skilful and effective pain management neither requires nor uses lethal doses of drugs.
We believe neither assisted suicide nor euthanasia is a medical procedure. Doctors should play no role in the regulation, or practice, of euthanasia and assisted suicide.
We are especially concerned with protecting vulnerable people who can feel they have become a burden to others, and we are committed to supporting those who find their own life situations a heavy burden.
We endorse the views of Medical Associations around the world which hold that physician assisted suicide and euthanasia are unethical, even if they are made legal.
“Leave doctors to focus on advocating for patients – to cure sometimes, to relieve often and to comfort always.”
Join us
If you are a registered doctor and would like to add your name to this Open Letter, complete the form below. These details are required to confirm that you are a medical doctor.
Declaration of good faith and disclaimer
The organisers have sought, and continue to seek, support for this open letter from currently practicing medical doctors within participating countries, and every reasonable effort is made to verify that they hold a valid practicing certificate or licence. The list of supporting doctors is published in good faith with a commitment to correct any errors, but the organisers disclaim any liability for published names found to be ineligible.
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