Assisted Suicide and Alternatives in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Abstract

Don't let go too soon, but don't hang on too long. Tuesdays with Morrie For an uncommon disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) commands a great deal of attention from the media, especially in the debate about physician-assisted suicide. Yet there has been no systematic survey of the views of patients themselves. Ganzini et al. have filled the gap by surveying 100 patients and 91 family care givers; they report the results in this issue of the Journal. ¹ Most of the patients lived in Oregon; the study was completed just before assisted suicide became legal there in 1997. Fifty-six percent of . . .