Euthanasia and the healthcare professional

Euthanasia, often called mercy killing, is the act of inducing death often on terminally ill individuals for reasons assumed to be merciful. Euthanasia can be active or passive, and voluntary or involuntary. Voluntary euthanasia indicates the patient's full consent to terminate life, whereas involuntary euthanasia indicates the lack of patient's consent. Active euthanasia means the termination of life using an agent such as a drug, whereas passive euthanasia refers to the withholding a potentially life-prolonging treatment. Euthanatizing agents terminate life through various mechanisms, causing physical damage, direct or indirect tissue hypoxia, depression of the nervous system. Euthanasia is an issue filled with moral and ethical, as well as legal dilemmas that cannot be avoided. As members of the health care team, pharmacists may be asked to provide advice involving some form of euthanasia.