euthanasia

In medicine, ‘mercy killing’ of someone with a severe and incurable condition or illness. Euthanasia is a highly controversial issue on medical and ethical grounds. A patient's right to refuse life-prolonging treatment is recognized in several countries.

In November 2000, the Netherlands became the first country to legalize euthanasia. In the UK, despite a number of test cases in 2003, all forms of euthanasia are illegal and considered as criminal acts.

In the USA, the Supreme Court ruled in June 1997 that the terminally ill did not have the fundamental right to have doctors help them to die. The Court upheld state laws in Washington and New York that forbid assisted suicides. However, about 6% of American doctors have hastened the death of a patient, according to a poll result published 23 April 1998 in the New England Journal of Medicine. Of the 3,102 doctors who answered the survey, 11% said they would be willing to help a patient die by prescribing medication and 7% said they would give a lethal injection if asked. The state of Michigan's law that banned assisted suicides came into effect on 1 September 1998; it makes such acts a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine. In April 1999, Dr Jack Kevorkian, who assisted more than 100 people to commit suicide, was convicted of second-degree murder in Detroit, Michigan, and sentenced to 10-25 years in prison.