5
March 9, 2026
In this episode of Psychiatry Boot Camp, Dr. Mark Mullen speaks with psychiatrist and medical ethicist Dr. Mark Komrad about physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia, focusing particularly on their implications for psychiatric practice.
The discussion reviews the terminology, legal frameworks, and international trends surrounding assisted death, including developments in Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada, and multiple U.S. states. Dr. Komrad outlines concerns regarding capacity assessments, the expansion from terminal illness to psychiatric suffering, and the ethical tensions between autonomy and the physician’s role as healer.
The episode also examines countertransference, projective identification, and the clinical dynamics that arise when treating chronically suicidal patients in jurisdictions where assisted death is permitted. Position statements from the American Medical Association and the American Psychiatric Association are reviewed, along with questions of conscientious…