Science / Medicine : Euthanasia Declared Unethical

The World Medical Assn. declared euthanasia unethical in a motion approved during the last week’s four-day meeting in Madrid. The association defined euthanasia as the act of deliberately ending the lives of patients, either at their own request or that of their close relatives.

The motion stated: “This does not prevent the physician from respecting the will of a patient to allow the natural process of death to follow its course in the terminal phase of sickness.”

The assembly also said the rights of donor and recipient should be protected and recommended that the death of the donor should be determined independently by two or more physicians who are not involved in the transplant procedure.