APA Dictionary of Psychology

in the debate over assisted death, a controversial term that refers to the practice of palliative sedation, whereby a terminally ill person is heavily sedated with opiates in the final hours or days of life. Critics claim this practice is an act of active euthanasia as the sedation is likely to hasten death. In response, proponents of the practice have used the principle of double effect to argue that there is no intent to hasten death but only to provide comfort and relieve suffering.