Is Assisted Dying Really a Matter for Medical Regulation?

Area of Science:

• Medical Law and Ethics
• Healthcare Policy
• Bioethics

Background:

• Assisted suicide and euthanasia (AS/E) are increasingly legalized globally.
• Current regulatory frameworks often place AS/E under medical supervision.
• Overstretched healthcare systems present practical challenges to medicalized AS/E provision.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the suitability of medical regulation for assisted suicide and euthanasia (AS/E).
• To explore alternative regulatory mechanisms for governing AS/E.
• To propose a
• demedicalized model

Main Methods:

• Empirical analysis of AS/E legalization across various jurisdictions.
• Examination of ethical, legal, and economic challenges associated with medicalizing AS/E.
• Review of existing regulatory frameworks and their limitations.

Main Results:

• Identified four key reasons to consider demedicalizing AS/E: infrastructural weakness, medicalization challenges, regulatory complexity, and susceptibility to healthcare economics.
• Legalized AS/E faces pragmatic ethical issues within strained global healthcare systems.
• Medical law, pharmaceutical law, and criminal law present significant regulatory hurdles.

Conclusions:

• Demedicalizing assisted suicide and euthanasia (AS/E) offers a viable alternative to current medical regulatory models.
• A
• demedicalized model
• may better address the complexities and risks associated with AS/E.
• Policy recommendations are provided for implementing a demedicalized approach to AS/E governance.