Con
Timothy Quill, MD, Professor of Medicine, Psychiatry, and Medical Humanities at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, wrote in the chapter "Death and Dignity--A Case of Individualized Decision Making" that appeared in his 1995 book Arguing Euthanasia:
“Although I know we have measures to help control pain and lessen suffering, to think that people do not suffer in the process of dying is an illusion. Prolonged dying can occasionally be peaceful, but more often the role of the physician and family is limited to lessening but not eliminating severe suffering.
I wonder how many families and physicians secretly help patients over the edge into death in the face of such severe suffering. I wonder how many severely ill or dying patients secretly take their lives, dying alone in despair. I wonder…whether the Hemlock Society’s way of death by suicide is the most benign.”
1995