Oregon Law Review : Vol. 88 No. 4, p.1085-1138 : Physician-Assisted Suicide and Dementia: The Impossibility of a Workable Regulatory Regime

Abstract

Part I of this Article explores the neurophysiological effects of dementia on the interrelated processes of memory, cognition, and language. The section then explains how the neurological damage associated with dementia manifests in the daily life of the dementia sufferer. Part II faces the myth of “the empty shell” head on— exploring the myth, debunking it, and then explaining the need to curb the self-fulfilling institutional dynamics of “malignant positioning.” Finally, Part III directly confronts the impossibility of creating a legal regime that can acceptably regulate PAS and dementia.