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In general, legal responses to endof-life issues are not very different in Switzerland than in most European countries. For instance, active euthanasia (ie, killing on request) is illegal, although it is treated as a lesser offense than murder or manslaughter. Article 114 of the Swiss Penal Code reads,‘‘Every person who, for honourable reasons, especially mercy, kills another person on his or her serious and pressing request shall be punished by imprisonment for a maximal term of three years or with a fine.’’Also, like in most European countries, the administration of medication (for instance, morphine) to relieve serious pain of a terminal patient, even though it may lead to the unintended consequence of hastening his or her death, is accepted, in both moral and legal terms. Similarly, like in many other countries, the withdrawal or withholding of life-sustaining treatments, even if they are not covered by any specific legal …