Which statement accurately defines euthanasia?

Which statement accurately defines euthanasia?

• A. Withholding life support
• B. Killing a patient through lethal injection or other means
• C. Providing palliative care only
• D. Physician-assisted suicide

Answer: (B)

Euthanasia is the deliberate act of ending a patient’s life to relieve suffering, typically by administering a lethal agent. This option directly involves causing death, usually performed by a physician, so it matches the core idea of euthanasia as active killing to relieve intractable suffering. Withholding life support is about letting a patient die by not providing treatment; it does not involve actively causing death. Providing palliative care focuses on comfort without aiming to end life. Physician-assisted suicide involves the patient self-administering the lethal means, with the clinician providing the means, but the death results from the patient’s own action rather than the clinician’s direct administration.

Euthanasia is the deliberate act of ending a patient’s life to relieve suffering, typically by administering a lethal agent. This option directly involves causing death, usually performed by a physician, so it matches the core idea of euthanasia as active killing to relieve intractable suffering.

Withholding life support is about letting a patient die by not providing treatment; it does not involve actively causing death. Providing palliative care focuses on comfort without aiming to end life. Physician-assisted suicide involves the patient self-administering the lethal means, with the clinician providing the means, but the death results from the patient’s own action rather than the clinician’s direct administration.