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April 18, 2017; 88 (16) Editorial

Physician-assisted death in chronic neurologic diseases

James L. Bernat, Michael P. McQuillen
First published March 17, 2017, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000003832
James L. Bernat
From the Department of Neurology (J.L.B.), Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH; and Ethics Committee (M.P.M.), Santa Clara University, CA.
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Michael P. McQuillen
From the Department of Neurology (J.L.B.), Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH; and Ethics Committee (M.P.M.), Santa Clara University, CA.
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Physician-assisted death in chronic neurologic diseases
James L. Bernat, Michael P. McQuillen
Neurology Apr 2017, 88 (16) 1488-1489; DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000003832

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In the United States, a growing number of states have legalized physician-assisted death (PAD) since Oregon's pioneering law 20 years ago.1 PAD is also and more accurately called physician-assisted suicide. Currently, nearly 20% of United States citizens live in jurisdictions in which PAD is lawful (Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont, California, Colorado, and the District of Columbia). In Canada in 2016, federal legislation permitted PAD for patients with a “serious and incurable illness, disease, or disability” that causes intolerable suffering and as a result of which death was “reasonably foreseeable.”2

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  • Go to Neurology.org for full disclosures. Funding information and disclosures deemed relevant by the authors, if any, are provided at the end of the editorial.

  • See page 1528

  • © 2017 American Academy of Neurology
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Letters: Rapid online correspondence

  • Response to Dr. Bier
    • James L. Bernat, Professor, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Centerbernat@dartmouth.edu
    • Michael P. McQuillen
    Submitted May 18, 2017
  • Physician-assisted suicide is not voluntary euthanasia
    • Jean-Christophe Bier, Hopital erasme - ULBjbier@ulb.ac.be
    Submitted May 12, 2017
  • Editorialists' response to Dr. Sethi
    • James L. Bernat, Professor, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Centerbernat@dartmouth.edu
    • Michael P. McQuillen
    Submitted April 11, 2017
  • Physician assisted death and the right to die with dignity
    • Nitin K. Sethi, Associate Professor of Neurology, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York, NYsethinitinmd@hotmail.com
    Submitted April 04, 2017
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