Death by Appointment
A Rational Guide to the Assisted Dying Debate
Published on 12. October 2020
Book
Hardback
177 pages
978-1-5275-5978-3 (ISBN)
Description
This is a book about a controversial issue-whether doctors should be licensed by law to supply lethal drugs to terminally ill patients. It is written primarily for those who want to find a path through the thickets of a subject that transcends many fields of expertise. The authors have considerable experience of the matters about which they write, involving both research and hands-on medical care of dying people. They are not neutral about 'assisted dying': they are not convinced that the law is in need of change. However, the book employs an evidence-based approach and brings much-needed clarity to such complex issues as how the existing law works, how medical practice operates at the end of life, and what has been the experience of jurisdictions that have gone down the 'assisted dying' road. Above all, the book shows respect for the views of others who may judge the evidence differently.
Reviews / Votes
'This short book, aimed at a general readership, offers a helpful overview of one of the most important debates in developed societies: should the law permit "assisted dying"? Its focus is on physician-assisted suicide (PAS), though it also touches on voluntary euthanasia (VE). The book asks whether, even is PAS is ethical in certain cases, it can be effectively controlled by the law so as to ensure protection of the vulnerable. Death by Appointment succeeds in presenting the general reader with an accessible overview of the PAS debate and, given that the bulk of the literature favors legalization, offers some much-needed balance to the discussion. In particular, it should serve to enlighten many about the hitherto unanswered challenge of providing effective safeguards.'John KeownKennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA, in Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 43: 67-69 (2022)More details
Edition
Unabridged edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Newcastle upon Tyne
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Unabridged edition
Product notice
With dust jacket
Dimensions
Height: 212 mm
Width: 148 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-5275-5978-3 (9781527559783)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
10/2020
2nd Edition
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
€44.75
Shipment within 15-20 days
E-Book
09/2020
1st Edition
Cambridge Scholars Publishing
€204.99
Available for download
Persons
Ilora Finlay is an independent Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords. A palliative medicine consultant since 1987, she has cared for thousands of dying patients and their families, developed seven-day-a week specialist palliative care services across Wales, and established Cardiff University's world-renowned Palliative Medicine Diploma/MSc. She holds a Distinguished Honorary Professorship in Cardiff and held Groningen's Johanna Bejtel Chair. A Past President of the BMA and the Royal Society of Medicine, she now chairs the National Mental Capacity Forum.Robert Preston joined the parliamentary service after a career in Whitehall. He was Clerk to the House of Lords select committee which examined Lord Joffe's 2004 Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill. From 2010 to 2019, he was Director of the think-tank Living and Dying Well.