Physician-assisted Dying in Mentally Ill Patients - Which Criteria Are Decisive?

Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel

Status

Not yet enrolling

Conditions

Physician-Assisted Suicide

Study type

Observational

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT05492461

KZS Seed Grant 11/20

Details and patient eligibility

About

Physician-assisted dying (PAD) is currently a highly controversial topic in medical ethics and public debates worldwide. It poses a moral conflict between the ethical principle of respect for patient autonomy and the ethical principle of beneficence in the sense of preserving life. Switzerland gives higher weight to the former principle: Article 115 of the Swiss Penal Code (StGB) permits PAD, provided it is not performed for "selfish reasons", and thus, occupies a special role in international comparison. However, the Swiss federal law does not regulate who exactly is entitled to access PAD, and there is no universal agreement in the concerned professional societies. Additional uncertainty arises when not the wish for PAD of a somatically ill person but that of a mentally ill person is to be assessed. It is therefore important for Switzerland - but also internationally - to regulate PAD for the mentally ill. On the one hand, mentally ill persons must not be discriminated in their desire for PAD compared to somatically ill persons while at the same time, their vulnerability must be taken into account. On the other hand, treating physicians must be protected in their ethical integrity and need security when they have to decide on PAD-requests. With the present study, we aim at contributing to the discussion of PAD in mentally ill patients and, with the help of an online/telephone survey, provide insights of the current situation in Switzerland within the general population and in the medical profession. This study addresses the following research questions: What is the attitude of the general population towards the current Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMS) ethical guidelines? What is the attitude of medical professionals? To what extent does the public discussion reflect the current situation in clinical practice? Does the stigmatization of the mentally ill have an influence on the assessment of their wish to die, and if so, where do prejudices need to be reduced? The study thus aims to expand the scientific literature on this highly relevant, currently controversial topic.

Enrollment

20,000 estimated patients

Sex

All

Ages

18 to 65 years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

The inclusion criteria for participants from the general population are: (1) between 18 and 65 years old, and (2) sufficient knowledge of German, Italian, or French. Medical professionals are included if they are registered in one of the cantons Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft, Aargau, Lucerne, Graubünden, Ticino or Vaud. Physicians from all specialties are to be surveyed to be able to draw a comparison between the different medical professionals.

Exclusion criteria