Brittany Maynard's Lethal Prescription

As you may know, Brittany Maynard is a 29-year-old woman diagnosed with a malignant incurable brain tumor. She has moved to Oregon, and plans to commit suicide this Saturday, November 1, under Oregon's physician-assisted suicide law. She plans to take an overdose of medication prescribed legally by a physician.

Ms. Maynard's plight is a terrible one, and we in the medical community should (and do) work very hard to ease her suffering, even if we cannot cure her disease. But physician-assiste...