Legal physician-assisted dying in Oregon and the Netherlands: evidence concerning the impact on patients in "vulnerable" groups

If physician-assisted suicide (PAS) and/or voluntary active euthanasia were legalised, would this disproportionately affect people in ‘‘vulnerable'' groups? Although principles of patient autonomy and the right to avoid suffering and pain may offer support for these practices, concerns about their impact on vulnerable populations speak against them. Warnings about potential abuse have been voiced by many task forces, courts and medical organisations in several countries where the issue is under debate. Box 1 presents some of these concerns.