Physician-Assisted Suicide: The Ultimate Freudian Legacy
I am a physician; a board certified psychiatrist. I have a sensational terminal disease, AIDS. My view is simple. Active, voluntary euthanasia should be a legal option for all terminally ill patients. At the patient's request, it should be provided by the patient's physician or a consultant on the hospital staff. A rational model for this relationship between physician and patient is the reported professional relationship between Dr. Sigmund Freud and his doctor, Max Schur. Dr. Freud, on retaining Dr. Schur, asked him for assurance that he would always tell him the whole truth, charge him a reasonable fee, and, lastly, not let him suffer needlessly at the end. After a long and painful fight with cancer, Dr. Freud asked for relief and was given large doses of morphine by Dr. Schur that led to his death within hours.