Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Adjunct Professor of Internal Medicine
Position:
Pro to the question "Should euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide be legal?"
Reasoning:
"We [Battin and Timothy Quill] firmly believe that physician-assisted death should be one--not the only one, but one--of the last-resort options available to a patient facing a hard death. We agree that these options should include high dose pain medication if needed, cessation of life-sustaining therapy, voluntary cessation of eating and drinking, and terminal sedation. We also believe, however, that physician-assisted dying, whether it is called physician-assisted death or physician aid in dying or physician-assisted suicide, should be among the options available to paients at the end of life."
Physician-Assisted Dying: The Case for Palliative Care & Patient Choice, 2004
Experts
MDs, JDs (Lawyers), PhDs and Religious Leaders with significant involvement in end-of-life issues. [Because end-of-life dilemmas require medical, ethical, legal, and in some case religious considerations, we view MDs, PhDs with a bio-ethical focus, and JDs/religious leaders with significant involvement as "experts" in the euthanasia debate.] [Note: Experts definition varies by site.]
Involvement and Affiliations:
University of Utah Faculty Fellow Awards, Spring 1980, Autumn 1988, Autumn 1997, Spring 2002
Distinguished Professor, University of Utah, 2000
Rosenblatt Prize, University of Utah, 2000
Distinguished Research Award, University of Utah, 1997
Distinguished Professor of Philosophy and Adjunct Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Medical Ethics, University of Utah
Engaged in research on active euthanasia and assisted suicide in the Netherlands
Member of the American Philosophical Association
Member of the American Society for Aesthetics
Member of the American Association of Suicidology
Member of the American Section of the International Association for Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy
Member of the European Society for Philosophy of Medicine and Health
Member of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities
Member of the International Academy for Suicide Research
Member of the International Association for Bioethics
Member of the International Work Group on Death, Dying, and Bereavement
Education:
PhD, Philosophy, University of California Irvine, 1976
MFA, Fiction Writing, University of California Irvine, 1973
BA, magna cum laude with Honors in Philosophy, Bryn Mawr College, 1963
