DOs disagree with assisted suicide

Survey identifies attitudes of osteopathic physicians on physician-assisted suicide.

By Andis Robeznieks, amednews staff. March 4, 2002.

Most osteopathic physicians oppose physician-assisted suicide and, compared with other groups, are more likely to have received a request for assisted suicide and view the practice as immoral, said Thomas A. Cavalieri, DO, and colleagues at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Osteopathic Medicine, Stratford, N.J.

Of the 1,028 osteopathic physicians responding to Dr. Cavalieri's survey, published in the January issue of the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association :

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Fifty-eight percent said they would not be willing to write a lethal prescription for a competent, terminally ill patient.
Thirty-three percent report getting a request for a lethal prescription.
Sixty-three percent viewed writing a lethal prescription as immoral.

Dr. Cavalieri noted that these figures differ from similar surveys of different groups of physicians -- especially the 33% reporting they had received at least one request for help in committing suicide.

"That was a bit of a surprise to me," he said, explaining that in a recent study of AMA members only 18% reported receiving such a request, and in a study of doctors in Oregon -- where physician-assisted suicide is legal -- 21% reported being approached by patients seeking help in committing suicide.

While 63% of those surveyed found assisted suicide immoral, Dr. Cavalieri said a 1996 report found only 33% of Oregon doctors felt that way.

Dr. Cavalieri noted that the osteopathic oath includes a passage that states: "I will give no drugs for deadly purposes to any person though it may be asked of me."

He said 44% of those surveyed said this had influenced their attitude on physician-assisted suicide.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

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Article, "Attitudes of osteopathic physicians toward physician-assisted suicide," Journal of the American Osteopath Assn., January; in pdf (http://www.aoa-net.org/publications/jaoa/cavalieri102.pdf)