Perspectives

Physician Aid in Dying in the US South: What Does the Future Hold?

Authors: Keith M. Swetz, MD, MA, Michael D. Barnett, MD, MS, Arif H. Kamal, MD, MBA, MHS, J. Keith Mansel, MD

Abstract

The issue of physician aid in dying (PAD) has been front and center in the media, with the state of California on June 9, 2016, legalizing the writing of a lethal prescription for patients with terminal illness. California has joined Oregon, Washington, Vermont, and Montana as states where PAD is licit. Other states have considered PAD-legalizing measures, including New Mexico (where a measure was legalized by a district court in 2014 but reversed by a higher court in 2015), Massachusetts, Hawaii, and Maine, where legalization efforts to date have been unsuccesssful.1

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