Cross -Cultural Examination of Ethical Issues and Attitudes Towards Physician-Assisted Suicide Among Physicians and Patients in the United States, France, and Switzerland: Legislation, Practice and Ethical Foundations

Gail Van Norman received her doctorate in medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle Washington in the United States. She has received specialty training in Internal Medicine and in Anesthesiology, as well as a Certificate in Biomedical Ethics from the University of Washington. She is a Professor of the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, and an Adjunct Professor of Biomedical Ethics at the University of Washington. She currently chairs the Committee on Ethics for the American Society of Anesthesiologists, and has edited a textbook entitled Clinical Ethics for Anesthesiologists; a Case-Based Textbook published by Cambridge University Press.

Gail’s research project focuses on demography, culture, and religiosity as determinants of physician and patient attitudes towards physician-assisted suicide in France and Switzerland. She hopes to compare findings with representative patient and physician populations within the United States, both in states that have legalized physician-assisted suicide, and those in which it is illegal. Gail’s focus has been on ethical issues in clinical practice, and how ethical theory can be applied to practice in ‘real world’ settings. She has previously written and published about end-of-life issues including organ donation, living wills, forgoing life-saving therapies, and informed consent in medical practice. Her next project in preparation examines physician and patient attitudes and beliefs towards truth telling during serious and terminal illness in Mongolia.