Opinion
Physician-assisted suicide will stir public mistrust of the profession
LETTER — Posted Dec. 15, 2008
Regarding "Washington becomes 2nd state to allow physician-assisted suicide" (Article, Nov. 24): How sad that we value life so little that physicians are willing to forsake their role as healers. When will we begin to look back in history to the days when we shook off the mistrust of the populous, and Hippocrates and his followers disavowed dealing in death?
Until recently, patients were assured that to the best of our ability we would preserve life. No longer. Now we might as easily cause their demise as prevent it. Who will be trusted?
I am thankful for the AMA's strong opposition to this, which is "fundamentally inconsistent with the physician's role as healer." I hope that this opposition will speak critically of doctors who choose to take life and, in addition, forcefully will oppose further erosion of the public trust.
Joseph Zanga, MD, Greenville, N.C.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/12/15/edlt1215.htm.
