Bibliography on Effects of Assisted Suicides on Families

Annotated Bibliography: Effects of Assisted Suicides on Families
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Annotated Bibliography: Effects of Assisted Suicides on Families
Gamondi, C., Pott, M., & Payne, S. (2013). Families’ experiences with patients who died after
Assisted suicide: a retrospective interview study in southern Switzerland. Anals of Oncology 24, 1639-1644
The article authored by Garmondi and colleagues seeks to determine how family members react to situations where relatives die as a result of assisted suicide in southern Switzerland. In the research, oral interviews were conducted with the sampled families of the diseased. A sample consisted of five males and six females. According to the article, the interviews were tape recorded and fully transcribed. The deceased were grouped based on age, marital status, religion, the length of illness and the duration of palliative care. From the data obtained, it is notable that seven out of the eight deceased patients were over 55 years. Most of the family members argued that since the decision to terminate life was made by the deceased, they were not significantly affected by the death. Guided by their religious beliefs, the interviewees tried as much as possible not to directly get involved in the decision-making process, else they blame themselves for the cause of death. The research compares its findings with related studies, which indicates that the decision to undertake assisted suicide depends on personality traits that tend to change over a patient’s lifetime.
Pereira, J. (2011). Legalizing euthanasia or assisted suicide: the illusion of safeguards and controls. Current Oncology Vol. 18 No. 2, e38–e45.
The article by Pereira (2011), highlights the principles that guide the facilitation of assisted suicides by various countries. Euthanasia is a legal practice in Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium, and it enables an individual to be assisted to commit suicide in extreme medical conditions as long as the assistant has no personal motives towards benefiting from the death. However, despite the need for consent by the requesting patient, it has been noted that over five hundred people are involuntarily aided in committing suicide in Netherlands, with the number being up to three times in Belgium. 17 % of the involuntary deaths are as a result of the conclusion by physicians that euthanasia would be in the best interest of the patient. Although only adults were al...