Death wish

According to a report in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine , one out of five intensive care nurses in the US has intentionally hastened the death of a terminally ill patient without the knowledge of the patient's doctor. An overdose of painkilling opiates has been given in most cases and others were withheld treatment prescribed by the doctor. Most of the nurses, in a questionnaire by David Asch of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia said that they made the decision because they felt that the doctors were ignoring the wishes of the patients and their families.