ABSTRACT
Dr. Timothy Quill provoked a great deal of debate when The New England Journal of Medicine published his description of a woman named Diane, a patient whom Quill helped to commit suicide. Before Quill wrote about Diane's case, the medical ethics community and the public at large debated the morality of assisted suicide and euthanasia largely on the merits of several well-known cases: the "It's Over, Debbie" case from The Journal of the American Medical Association and the series of suicide-machine deaths organized by Dr. Kevorkian. Quill's clinical experience and his long-standing relationship with Diane contrast sharply with that of Dr. Kevorkian, a physician widely known for his efforts to help patients kill themselves with his suicide machines. Although Quill assisted Diane in committing suicide, he could have taken an even more active role in helping or encouraging her to end her life.
