Anorexia should be considered a terminal disease so that patients suffering it can avail of assisted suicide [1], according to two physicians in the US.
Dr Jennifer Gaudiani, the medical director at the Acute Center in Denver, which specialises in the treatment of severe eating disorders, said there was no guidance on when to allow a patient to stop treatment – essentially, to allow their self-starvation to take its ultimate, fatal course – and if the disorder could, in fact, be considered terminal.
She co-authored an article in the Journal of Eating Disorders, about what she dubbed “terminal anorexia nervosa”. It was intended as a guide for treating severely ill patients, including assisted suicide as an option which is legal in 10 states and in Washington, DC.
She and New Mexico psychiatrist Joel Yager, proposed a set of criteria for terminal anorexia: being at least 30 years of age, having engaged in “high-quality, multidisciplinary eating disorder care”, and consistently and clearly expressing that they understand continued treatment is futile and that they will die from their disorder.