"Regarding how their efforts will directly affect patients, Gomez said, "Anything we can do to educate doctors to the needs of patients is good. We will teach them to discuss pain control and alternative treatments with their patients. During the dying process, a doctor should be encouraging and bolstering his patients. We hope to have a very direct impact on patients' lives." Gomez speculated that the next five or six years will tell if they are successful."
"The AMA has watched, with great interest, doctor-assisted suicide in The Netherlands expand to include euthanasia even without a patient's knowledge or consent. Doctors in The Netherlands often resort to euthanasia when it appears that their efforts to cure the patient have been unsuccessful. The AMA does not want to see a repeat of this situation in America. Holland has shown that once the doctor has accepted the fact that he can end life, no amount of rules or regulations will protect the public."