Which statement accurately distinguishes physician-assisted suicide from euthanasia?

• A. Physician-assisted suicide involves a doctor providing the means for the patient to end life, whereas euthanasia involves the doctor performing or directly causing the death.
• B. They are defined identically in all statutes.
• C. Physician-assisted suicide requires no physician involvement.
• D. Euthanasia is a form of patient self-care without physician input.

Answer: (A)

The key distinction centers on who carries out the lethal act and the level of physician involvement. In physician-assisted suicide, the physician provides the means—usually by prescribing or supplying a lethal medication—but the patient self-administers, so the act of dying is performed by the patient. In euthanasia, the physician directly administers the lethal agent, causing death. This difference in who performs the final act is what separates the two. The other statements misstate aspects: laws are not identical across jurisdictions; physician involvement is required in physician-assisted suicide; and euthanasia typically involves physician input through administering the lethal dose, not patient self-care without physician input.