Dr. Barron H. Lerner watched as his family’s pet boxer, Akeela, suffered from an increasingly devastating brain tumor. As the cancer progressed, she often walked in circles and was consistently restless and had trouble sleeping. Dr. Lerner and his family, emotionally taxed watching Akeela suffer, took their veterinarians advice and chose to end her suffering via in-home euthanasia. As a practicing physician, the ability to choose to end Akeela’s suffering brought up thoughts of his oath not to “administer a poison to anybody when asked to do so nor … suggest such a course.” Though there are now six states that allow for physician-assisted suicide, Lerner does not consider this a viable option for his practice. Despite this personal prohibition, he does not have an issue discussing such possible avenues with patients. For many patients though, this option is not realistic, as it requires relocation to another state at the end of life.
See Barron H. Lerner, M.D., The Death of the Doctor’s Dog, The New York Times, February 6, 2018.
Special thanks to Lewis Saret (Attorney, Washington, D.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.
