On the subject of euthanasia, Wesley J. Smith gives us an update on current trends to jettison the Hippocratic Oath's strictures against the same. Whereas formerly a doctor took the oath saying "I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect,” now we have doctors and "ethicists" [e.g. Dr. Sherwin Nuland, author of the bestselling book How We Die] advocating that doctors be provided “thorough training in [euthanasia] techniques."
Surveying the revision taking place in medical oaths, Smith notes that
"Cornell Medical School published a rewritten oath for its graduating doctors to take. Gone, of course, is the proscription against performing abortions. No surprise there: Doctors ceased foreswearing that particular procedure decades ago (although it is interesting to note that recent newspaper stories complain that very few doctors are willing to perform abortions).
But now, Cornell has cast aside two other crucial affirmations of the Oath: First, the prohibition against euthanasia has been erased ("I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect), and second, Cornell’s oath does not require its graduates to avoid sexual relations with their patients.
Given the nature of medical "ethics" and "oaths" today, a cautious and even suspicious view of doctors need not necessarily indicate paranoia. Read the whole article.