Physician-Assisted Death in Perspective

Introduction Stuart J. Youngner and Gerrit K. Kimsma; Part I. Background and History: 1. The lateness of the Dutch euthanasia debate and its consequences James C. Kennedy; 2. Classifications and definitions: Dutch developments John Legemaate; 3. The legalization of euthanasia in the Netherlands: revolutionary normality Heleen Weyers; 4. The normative context of the Dutch euthanasia law Esther Pans; 5. Dutch social groups on euthanasia: the political spectrum on ending life on request Heleen Weyers; 6. The Dutch social fabric: health care, trust, and solidarity Margo Trappenburg and Hans Oversloot; Part II. Regulation and Practice Deficiencies: 7. The unreported cases Bregje D. Onwuteaka-Philipsen; 8. Physician-assistance in dying without an explicit request by the patient Agnes van der Heide; 9. When requests do not result in euthanasia or assisted suicide Roeline W. Pasman; 10. Dutch euthanasia in retrospect John Griffiths; Part III. Quality Assurance: 11. Euthanasia consultants: professional assessment before euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide in the Netherlands Gerrit K. Kimsma; 12. Reviews after the act: the role and the work of regional euthanasia review committees Gerrit K. Kimsma and Evert Van Leeuwen; 13. Palliative care and physician-assisted death Dick Willems; Part IV. Learning from the Practice: 14. Unbearable suffering and advanced dementia: the moral problems of advance directives for euthanasia Cees M. P. M. Hertogh; 15. Decision making capacity in patients who are in the early stage of Alzheimer's disease and who request physician-assisted suicide Ron Berghmans; 16. Being 'weary of life' as cause for seeking euthanasia of physician-assisted suicide Mette Rurup; 17. Shared obligations and 'medical friendships' in assisted dying: moral and psychological repercussions reconsidered Gerrit K. Kimsma and Chalmers C. Clark; 18. Depression, euthanasia and assisted suicide Marije van der Lee; 19. End-of-life decisions in children and newborns in the Netherlands Pieter J. J. Sauer and A. A. Eduard Verhangen; 20. Hastening death through voluntary cessation of eating and drinking: a survey Boudewijn E. Chabot; Part V. The Challenge of Unbearable Suffering: 21. The subjectivity of suffering and the normativity of unbearableness Henri Wijsbek; 22. Assessment of unbearable and hopeless suffering in evaluating a request to end life Gerrit K. Kimsma; Part VI. Overview: 23. The regulation of euthanasia: how successful is the Dutch system? Govert den Hartogh; 24. No regrets Margo Trappenburg.