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Table 1 Definition of terms

From: When is hastened death considered suicide? A systematically conducted literature review about palliative care professionals’ experiences where assisted dying is legal

Assisted suicide

Someone makes the means of death available but does not act as the direct agent of death

Euthanasia

A medical professional administers a lethal dose of medication to intentionally end a patient’s life

Hastened death

Someone who acts on their desire to control the circumstances of their death with or without assistance from another individual

Physician assisted suicide

A medical provider writes a prescription for a lethal dose of a drug to be self-administered by a competent, terminally ill patient

Suicide

Self-caused death