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Euthanasia: attitudes and practices of medical practitioners
Author(s) -
Baume Peter,
O'Malley Emma
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1994.tb127345.x
Subject(s) - legislation , medicine , family medicine , medical practice , physician assisted suicide , nursing , law , political science
Objective To record doctors' attitudes towards, and practice of, active voluntary euthanasia (AVE) and physician‐assisted suicide (PAS) in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. Methods A postal survey was sent to a random sample of 2000 practitioners on the Medical Register of NSW (which includes medical practitioners in the ACT). Results Almost half the practitioners had been asked to perform euthanasia, of whom 28% had com‐plied. Of practitioners asked to assist with suicide, 7% had complied. There was majority support for changes to the law concerning euthanasia. Conclusions There are relatively high levels of support for, and practice of, AVE and PAS by medical practitioners in New South Wales and the ACT, suggesting that the current legislation should be reviewed.