Assisted Suicide and Trust The Case of Mrs. Stevens
{"Image DocumentName": "Assisted Suicide and Trust The Case of Mrs. Stevens", "Image ImageDescription": "We had felt much discouragement. during the prior three years,but never. the deep despair that we felt at that time. when her trusted physician suggested suicide. This is a personal story of Dr. Ken Stevens. We had been married for 18 years and had 6 children. For three years my wife had been suffering from advancing malignant lymphoma. It had spread from the lymph nodes to her brain, to her spinal cord and to her bones. She had received extensive chemotherapy and radiation treatments. She required considerable pain medication, antidepressants and other supportive measures. In late May, 1982, we met again with her physician to review what more could be done. It was obvious that there was no further treatment that would halt the cancer s progressive nature. As we were about to leave his office, her physician said, Well, I could write a prescription for an extra large amount of pain medication for you. He did not say it was for her to hasten her death, but she and I both felt his intended message. We knew that was the intent of his words. We declined the prescription. As I helped her to our car, she said, He wants me to kill myself. She and I were devastated. How could her trusted physician subtly suggest to her that she take her own life with lethal drugs? We had felt much discouragement during the prior three years, but not the deep despair that we felt at that time when her physician, her trusted physician, subtly suggested that suicide should be considered. His subtle message to her was, Your life is no longer of value, you are better off dead. Six days later she died peacefully, naturally, with dignity and at ease in her bed, without the suggested lethal drugs. Physician-assisted suicide does destroy trust between patient and physician. Even proponents don\u2019t want their physicians to be in favor of doctor-assisted suicide.", "Image XResolution": "37", "Image YResolution": "37", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Centimeter", "Image Software": "SlidePlayer", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered"}