Hawaii medical journal
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The medical profession has seen an accelerated interest in end of life decision making and terminal care. The growing need for attention in these areas requires more of the art of medicine--the human and compassionate side of medicine as opposed to the high technology side.
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Repeated surveys have shown that more than 70% of Americans support physician aid in dying for terminally ill mentally competent adults. Recent polls of physicians in Oregon and Michigan demonstrate majority support of those doctors for such a law while 25% of physicians surveyed in Washington admitted to already providing help. Models of how that would work have been spelled out in proposed legislation in the United States since 1988, other models come from the Northern Territory in Australia, from Holland, and from Jack Kevorkian's writing and actions as well as from other writers such as Dr Timothy Quill.
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Hawaii medical journal · Dec 1996
How Hawaii's doctors feel about physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia: an overview.
We polled, by questionnaire, all doctors and medical trainees in Hawaii (n = 3,017) to determine their attitudes towards physician-assisted suicide, euthanasia and other end-of-life medical issues. One thousand and twenty-eight (34.1%) responded. Medical trainees did not differ significantly from practicing physicians. ⋯ Most doctors (88.0%) were also willing to administer high doses of narcotics for pain relief, even if such therapy hastened death. About half the doctors felt that physician-assisted suicide and active euthanasia may be justified under some circumstances, although most were unwilling to personally carry out these acts. Catholic, Filipino and Hawaiian/Polynesian doctors were statistically less likely to approve of or perform physician-assisted suicide or active euthanasia.