Health Care Activity
euthanasia Audio
eu·tha·na·sia [ yoo-thuh-ney-zhuh ]
Subclass of:
terminal patient care
Definitions related to euthanasia:
  • An easy or painless death, or the intentional ending of the life of a person suffering from an incurable or painful disease at his or her request.
    NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms
    U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
  • The act or practice of killing or allowing death from natural causes, for reasons of mercy, i.e., in order to release a person from incurable disease, intolerable suffering, or undignified death. (from Beauchamp and Walters, Contemporary Issues in Bioethics, 5th ed)
    NLM Medical Subject Headings
    U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2021
  • (terminal sedation) The purposeful use of morphine, other opiates, or other pharmaceuticals at doses adequate to end life functions.
    NCI Thesaurus
    U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
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This content should not be used in place of medically-reviewed decision support reference material or professional medical advice. Some terms may have alternate or updated definitions not reflected in this set. The definitions on this page should not be considered complete or up to date.