Performance & Knowledge of Medical Students & Postgraduate Residents about Legal Issues Relating to Euthanasia - The Need for Education

Although euthanasia is sometimes justified in terms of emotional and sometimes we see some cases of attempted euthanasia, but according to the current laws in our country, acting on each type of euthanasia can be considered a criminal act and it should be avoided. Accordingly, the purpose of the present study is evaluating the medical students’ awareness about legal issues relating to euthanasia.
In this study, ablind standard questionnaire was designed & given to medical students volunteered for responding to questions. After reviewing the information, data analysis was performed by the statistical software.
Findings:In this study, out of a total of 150 participating students 101 thought that in certain conditions euthanasia can be ethical and 76 considered it legal. A majority (72.7%) of these students agreed with passive euthanasia (including interruption of treatment and not beginning the needed treatment), while 75.3% of them tended to participate in such measures. Also, 86 agreed with, and tended to do, voluntary euthanasia. And 47 thought that even compulsive euthanasia is legal.
Considering the facts such as: low level of knowledge about related laws among students and physicians; legal, ethical and jurisprudential inhibitions regarding euthanasia; and physicians’ duty and intent to abide the law, appropriate treatment and saving patients’ lives; informing all physicians about legal issues and managing such cases will have a significant effect on reducing the consequences of these problems regarding the patient’s rights.