Physician-assisted suicide /

This work is an excellent historical and philosophical resource on a very difficult subject. As such, it provides background for Wesley J. Smith's Forced Exit (CH, Jan'98), which exposes abuses of the concept that such powers should be embodied in physicians. The reverse is not true: Forced Exit has the strength to stand alone. Weir has assembled an impressive array of contributors, several of whom provide competing ideas, in the guise of fairness. The piece by Daniel Callahan (chapter 3) contains his clearest statement yet on the wrongness of physician involvement in these affairs. Byock's argument is clearer and more direct (against) than Brody's (for). The fur seems to fly when professionals and families seek to go from the "withholding" to the "proactive" stance. Not as fully integrated into an otherwise useful book are two related points: (1) the limits on present and likely future medical knowledge, and (2) the more general failure of the medical profession to provide lay education on those limits. It is one thing to accede to unreasonable requests by family and friends to maintain treatment under conditions unlikely to succeed by experience, and another to provide the most complete and balanced account of what to expect either way before decision making. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals. D. R. Shanklin; University of Chicago

This collection of essays by noted academics provides compelling arguments for and against physician-assisted suicide. As in the Report of the Committee on Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia (Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, v. 26, suppl., 1996), Weir (director of the Program in Medical Ethics and Medical Humanities, Univ. of Iowa Coll. of Medicine) takes no position on physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia but emphasizes the need for further research and education. The essays presented here examine historical interpretations, ethical positions, medical practices and perspectives, considerations for vulnerable patients, and public policy, all of which influence judicial deliberations. Although they represent a range of positions, all the essays advocate a cautionary approach to policy formation. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently examining physician-assisted suicide in the case of Compassion in Dying v. State of Washington (U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 1996 WL 94848 [Wash.]) and is expected to hand down a decision by the fall. This book is a timely and valuable contribution to the debate. Highly recommended for academic collections.‘Mary Hemmings, Univ. of Calgary Law Lib., Alberta (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.