Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tai data-artikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä (A1)
Physician-assisted dying and two senses of an incurable condition
Julkaisun tekijät: Varelius J
Kustantaja: BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP
Julkaisuvuosi: 2016
Journal: Journal of Medical Ethics
Tietokannassa oleva lehden nimi: JOURNAL OF MEDICAL ETHICS
Lehden akronyymi: J MED ETHICS
Volyymi: 42
Julkaisunumero: 9
Aloitussivu: 601
Lopetussivun numero: 604
Sivujen määrä: 4
ISSN: 0306-6800
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/medethics-2016-103487
Tiivistelmä
It is commonly accepted that voluntary active euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide can be allowed, if at all, only in the cases of patients whose conditions are incurable. Yet, there are different understandings of when a patient's condition is incurable. In this article, I consider two understandings of the notion of an incurable condition that can be found in the recent debate on physician-assisted dying. According to one of them, a condition is incurable when it is known that there is no cure for it. According to the other, a condition is incurable when no cure is known to exist for it. I propose two criteria for assessing the conceptions and maintain that, in light of the criteria, the latter is more plausible than the former.
It is commonly accepted that voluntary active euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide can be allowed, if at all, only in the cases of patients whose conditions are incurable. Yet, there are different understandings of when a patient's condition is incurable. In this article, I consider two understandings of the notion of an incurable condition that can be found in the recent debate on physician-assisted dying. According to one of them, a condition is incurable when it is known that there is no cure for it. According to the other, a condition is incurable when no cure is known to exist for it. I propose two criteria for assessing the conceptions and maintain that, in light of the criteria, the latter is more plausible than the former.