News

LOS ANGELES, May 19 (LSN) – In a recent survey of cancer doctors conducted by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), support among MDs for doctor-assisted suicide and euthanasia has fallen dramatically over the last three years. The support for doctor-assisted suicide dropped from 45% three years ago to 22% in the current study, while support for euthanasia in general fell from 22 per cent to 6.5 per cent.  The survey also confirmed that some physicians are flouting the law, and are quietly assisting patients to commit suicide, as was reported in the New England Journal of Medicine last month. The ASCO study found that nearly 13% of cancer doctors claimed to have taken part in an assisted suicide. ASCO’s President Dr. Robert Mayer called for improvements to palliative care in order to combat the problem.