Tony Yang, associate professor in the Department of Health Administration and Policy, first-authored a viewpoint on why physicians should oppose assisted suicide in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Yang and his co-author, Farr Curlin of the Trent Center for Bioethics at Duke University, argue that physician assisted suicide is never justifiable. Physician-assisted suicide contradicts the physician’s professional role and undermines the distinctive solidarity with those whose health is diminished that makes the practice of medicine possible. They call physicians to oppose the legalization of physician assisted suicide and steadfastly refuse to condone or participate in it. Read the full viewpoint.