The main job of a doctor is to save lives. That considering, the idea of assisted suicide can be a morally, emotionally and fiscally challenging one. Less than a handful of states have made assisted suicide legal, mainly because suicide is still such a hush-hush topic within our society and culture. England, however as allowed assisted suicide for over 50 years.

Yet it hasn't always gone smoothly for England. Researchers came out with an established guidelines for assisted suicide to help physicians avoid trouble and to allow patients to get the help they desire.

While we in the State do not need to adopt the same trial of thought as our British friends, we can learn a lesson from these established guidelines. The guidelines are concretized for the entire nation; every practicing physician in England will use these protocols. Guidelines can be, especially in the case of assisted suicide, a very powerful tool. When every physician follows the same rules, medicine is standard and consistent and standardized consistency helps eliminate monetary waste.

To read the full article to see England's new guidelines, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/world/europe/24britain.html?scp=2&sq=September+24+2009&st=nyt