Psychiatrists support medical-aid-in-dying bill
As the psychiatrist who requested the Maryland Psychiatric Society survey cited by Dr. Carol Vidal in her recent commentary, I want to address several grossly misleading statements (“Maryland psychiatrists oppose medical-aid-in-dying bill for good reason,” Feb. 23).
First, in response to a question as to whether physicians should be allowed to prescribe lethal medication to a competent terminally ill patient who requests it, 57% agreed or agreed more than they disagreed, while 37.5% disagreed or disagreed more than they agreed. This is what the Maryland End-of-Life Option Act would allow, and it clearly has the majority support of the membership. The question cited as to whether a physician should be allowed to administer lethal medication is a different practice from medical aid in dying, namely euthanasia, which is not allowed under the bill.
Second, the majority support that a physician who prescribes or administers lethal medication should be trained to recognize signs and symptoms of mental illness. All physicians have training to recognize psychiatric illness. For example, two studies, with a total sample of 261 patients, did a mandatory mental health evaluation of patients requesting medical aid in dying who had been cleared by their attending physician. There was not a single case where the mental health expert found that the patient had compromised decision-making capacity due to a mental illness.
Third, the assertion that most members believed patients requesting medical aid in dying should have a psychiatric evaluation is very misleading. This survey was meant to assess members’ attitudes toward a wide range of health conditions that could be appropriate for medical aid in dying and had 20 questions. Only the first three questions were specifically about the terminally ill adults that would be covered by this bill.
In sum, when the issue is limited to medical aid in dying for the terminally ill, the majority of psychiatrists in Maryland support this practice and the physician’s role in it.
— Douglas W. Heinrichs, Ellicott City