Le Journal médical libanais. The Lebanese medical journal
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End-of-life care is an important aspect of medical practice. Individual physicians and the medical community must be committed to the compassionate and competent provision of care to dying patients and their families. Patients rightfully expect their physicians to care for them and provide them with medical assistance as they are dying. ⋯ Care of patients near the end of life, however, has a moral, psychological, and interpersonal intensity that distinguishes it from most other clinical encounters. With appropriate education, physicians can play a key role to improve care for patients and families who are living with advanced life-threatening illness. Although some issues (e.g., the role of physician-assisted death in addressing suffering) remain very controversial, there is much common ground based on the application of the four major principles of medical ethics, nonmaleficence, beneficence, autonomy, and justice.