Does Effective Pain Control Eliminate the Need for Physician-Assisted Dying?

Physical pain is only one of many conditions that lead patients to make the decision to die. Physical suffering and quality of life involve several factors beyond pain that can rationally influence this decision. Moreover, while most terminal metastatic cancer pain can be controlled, there is still a substantial amount of pain that cannot be controlled without pharmacologically-induced sleep that approximates death.

Physical pain is only one of many conditions that lead patients to make the decision to die. Physical suffering and quality of life involve several factors beyond pain that can rationally influence this decision. Moreover, while most terminal metastatic cancer pain can be controlled, there is still a substantial amount of pain that cannot be controlled without pharmacologically-induced sleep that approximates death.