Authors: Derek Humphry
ISBN-13: 9780385336536, ISBN-10: 0385336535
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Date Published: November 2002
Edition: Revised and Updated
As the legal controversy continuesthis newly revised and updated third edition of the landmark bestseller contains new, critically important information for patients, loved ones, and medical personnel.
The original publication of Final Exit stunned the nation by offering people with terminal illness a choice on howand whento end their suffering. It helped thousands by giving clear instructions to doctors, nurses, and families on how to handle a patient’s request for euthanasia.
In the wake of court cases and legislative mandates, this revised and updated third edition goes far beyond the original to provide new information about the legality of euthanasia and assisted suicide, and a thoughtful examination of the personal issues involved. It has become the essential source to help loved ones and supportive doctors remain within existing laws and keep a person’s dying intimate, private, and dignified.
With deep compassion and sensitivity, it spells out why a living will may not be sufficient to have a person’s wishes carried outand what document is a better alternative. It updates where to get proper drugs and exactly how to carry out the quickest, most peaceful way to make a final exit. Finally, it gently talks to a person considering self-deliverance about alternatives, planning, and the means to make every death a "good death" at our time of greatest need.
Controversy should erupt anew when Humphry's suicide manual for the terminally ill, newly revised and expanded, tries to match in paper the successes that it enjoyed in cloth, including 18 weeks on PW's bestseller list. (Sept.)
Introductions | ||
1 | The Most Difficult Decision | 1 |
2 | Shopping for the Right Doctor | 8 |
3 | Beware of the Law | 14 |
4 | The Hospice Option | 22 |
5 | The Cyanide Enigma | 27 |
6 | Death Hollywood Style | 35 |
7 | Bizarre Ways to Die | 40 |
8 | The Dilemma of the Severely Handicapped | 49 |
9 | Self-Starvation | 57 |
10 | The Will to Die and "Miracle Cures" | 62 |
11 | Who Shall Know? | 68 |
12 | Life Insurance | 72 |
13 | After the Self-Deliverance | 75 |
14 | A Private Matter? | 80 |
15 | Psychological Support for the Dying | 87 |
16 | Letters to Be Written | 92 |
17 | Going Together? | 97 |
18 | When Is the Time to Die? | 101 |
19 | How Do You Get the "Magic Pills"? | 109 |
20 | Storing Drugs | 116 |
21 | Death in the Family Car | 120 |
22 | Self-Deliverance Using a Plastic Bag | 123 |
23 | The Checklist | 129 |
24 | The Final Act | 134 |
25 | The Risky Drugs | 145 |
26 | Physician-assisted Suicide and Active Voluntary Euthanasia | 155 |
Appendix A | Glossary of Terms Connected with Dying | 164 |
Appendix B | Oregon's Law | 169 |
Appendix C | Pain Control | 180 |
Appendix D | Suicide Hot Lines | 182 |
Appendix E | A Living Will and Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care | 184 |
Books to Read | 195 | |
Index | 197 | |
About the Author | 208 |