摘要：A 72 year-old man suffering from two gangrenous legs may refuse to have his legs amputated, even though the consequence almost certainly will be death. 1A patient suffering from leukemia may decline chemotherapy when the treatment will not cure the leukemia and may cause painful side-effects, and without the treatment the patient will die within a few months. 2 A terminally ill patient also may have a respirator removed, even though the removal will hasten his death. 3 The proliferat!0n of"right to die' cases has led some courts to permit incurable and suffering patients to have their life-support equipment withdrawn, even though the patients were not terminal.
