ABSTRACT
These problems are apparent in an influential study published by Kuhse et al in 1997.4 They conducted a survey of a cross sectional sample of the Australian medical work force to study attitudes to end of life care and decision-making. Their work was based on the approach taken by Van der Maas and co-workers,5 where a legal channel for such practices exists. In these studies euthanasia is categorised as a type of medical decision at the end of life (MDEL).6 The term medical decision at the end of life, used by both groups of researchers, encompasses:
Two of the other categories (in addition to euthanasia) are: firstly, administration of "high doses of opioids" that "almost certainly would shorten the life of the patient" and secondly, decisions in which "lifeprolonging" treatment was withheld or withdrawn.8
