Fatal Choices and Flawed Decisions at the End-of-Life : Lessons from Israel

The article opens by presenting a recent disconcerting event that took place at a rehabilitative nursing home in Tel Aviv. Next I will discuss the Dying Patient Law which came into effect in 2005. I will then move on to probe the double effect doctrine as it is relevant to the case at hand, and the role of the medical profession and of the family in making decisions at the end of life. It is argued that patients who express a wish to die should receive a comprehensive care addressing their physical and mental condition before rushing to provide lethal medication. Medicine is a healing profession, a caring profession. I conclude by offering some guidelines to help practitioners address the intricate questions they face when patients ask to die