Physician-Assisted Death in Perspective

This book is the first comprehensive report and analysis of the Dutch euthanasia experience over the last three decades. In contrast to most books about euthanasia, which are written by authors from countries where the practice is illegal and therefore practiced only secretly, this book analyzes empirical data and real-life clinical behavior. Its essays were written by the leading Dutch scholars and clinicians who shaped euthanasia policy and who have studied, evaluated, and helped regulate it. Some of them have themselves practiced euthanasia. The book will contribute to the world literature on physician-assisted death by providing a comprehensive examination of how euthanasia has been practiced and how it has evolved in one specific national and cultural context. It will greatly advance the understanding of euthanasia among both advocates and opponents of the practice.

Stuart J. Youngner, MD, is the Susan E. Watson Professor and Chair of the Department of Bioethics at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Trained as a psychiatrist, Dr Youngner is a nationally and internationally recognized scholar in biomedical ethics. He has published extensively on topics including end-of-life issues, organ transplantation and the definition of death.

Gerrit K. Kimsma, MD, MPh is a practising physician and philosopher and co-founder of the Department of Metamedicine at Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. He is a nationally and internationally recognized scholar in end-of-life issues and serves on the Board of Cambridge Quarterly of Health Care Ethics, Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, Medicine HealthCare and Philosophy.