Euthanasia is defined as “a deliberate act undertaken by one person with the intention of ending life of another person to relieve that person's suffering and where the act is the cause of death”. Assisted suicide is defined as “the act of intentionally killing oneself with the assistance of another who deliberately provides the knowledge, means, or both”. In ‘physician-assisted suicide' (PAS) a physician provides the assistance. The present literature –based review article is prepared with the aims (1) to understand the genesis of the idea of euthanasia (2) to peek into the historical chronology related to this idea (3) to learn the arguments and counter arguments given for this idea (4) to look into the patient's perspective related to his request for death (5) to know the global scenario regarding euthanasia, and (6) to generate an awareness about the concept behind euthanasia – more than ‘legal medical death'. In ancient Greece and Rome, euthanasia was an everyday reality. The proposals for euthanasia revived in the 19th century with the revolution in the use of anesthesia. It has been claimed that advances in life-sustaining medical technology have renewed interest in euthanasia again. Fear of being kept alive by technology along with the extrapolation of anesthetics to make death easier have been the facilitators for this renewal of debates on euthanasia. The arguments and justifications advanced both for and against euthanasia have hardly changed in over a century, that is, human right born of self-determination versus fear of ‘slippery slope'. Looking from patient's perspective, the patient asks for death when his psychological purview changes from ‘why me' to ‘what next'. Physical symptoms rarely serve as primary or sole motivation for death request. Instead individual values appear to have primary role to play. An avoidance or immediate refusal runs the risk of adversely affecting the patient's care. The motivation behind patient's request should be explored and a deeper understanding should be reached. Globally, Netherlands in 2001 and Belgium in 2002 have legalized euthanasia. Oregon, USA has legalized only PAS in 1997. Northern territory of Australia was the first to legalize euthanasia in 1995 and first to repeal the act in 1997. According to Swiss penal code, suicide is not a crime and assisting suicide is a crime if and only if the motive is selfish. It condones assisting suicide for altruistic reasons. In conclusion, the people practicing medicine should have an analytical viewpoint while having a debate on euthanasia. There is a need to understand the arguments and counter arguments given for euthanasia so that formal guidelines can be worked out regarding this vital issue, for the primary goal of all the medical practitioners is to infuse control in all patients to live gracefully and to die peacefully. Introduction Debates about the ethics of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide date from ancient Greece and Rome (1). Euthanasia is defined as “a deliberate act undertaken by one person with the intention of ending life of another person to relieve that person's suffering and where the act is the cause of death”. Euthanasia may be ‘voluntary', ‘non-voluntary' or ‘involuntary'. Euthanasia is voluntary when the suffering person has requested and consented for ending life. It is non-voluntary when the suffering person has neither requested nor consented for ending life. And it is involuntary when the suffering person has requested contrary to ending life. Assisted suicide is defined as “the act of intentionally killing oneself with the assistance of another who deliberately provides the knowledge, means, or both”. In ‘physician-assisted suicide' (PAS) a physician provides the assistance (2). Aims The present literature-based review article is being worked out: To understand the genesis of the idea of euthanasia. To peek into the historical chronology related to this idea. To learn the arguments and counter a
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