(Continued from page 3)

this might do it, "But don't kill yourself."
• Indeed, in less than two days he developed pneumonia, his need for pain medicines lessened, and in less than two more days he escaped his cancer dying from pneumonia. The death certificate called it death by natural causes, but I suspect he voluntarily stopped coughing after our talk that night, which allowed for the blessing of a rapid case of pneumonia. Still, I would agree on the natural cause statement.
• There are those who request that physicians should, by law, be allowed to prescribe death-inducing poisons for patients who are similarly suffering. These people could then fill the prescription, take the poison on their own time, and thereby choose to die on their own terms instead of having to wait for pneumonia. Although this is law in some states in the US, I struggle with that prescription for death.
• In my opinion the issue turns around the word "intent." It runs against my moral duty to give a poison intended to kill. On the other hand, I consider it also my moral duty to prescribe enough medicine intended to relieve suffering, even if it might hurry death.
• I believe there is a huge difference between the intent to kill and the intent to comfort.
• Dr. Rick Holm wrote this Prairie Doc Perspective for "On Call®," a weekly program where medical professionals discuss health concerns for the general public.  "On Call®" is produced by the Healing Words Foundation in association with the South Dakota State University Journalism Department. "On Call®" airs Thursdays on South Dakota Public Broadcasting-Television at 7 p.m. Central, 6 p.m. Mountain. Visit us at OnCallTelevision.com. 
•