Palliating in Avoidable Death: Reconciling Psychiatrists' Roles as Treaters on Death Row With Participation in a System of Overt Harm

Abstract

Abstract Although nations across the globe have eliminated capital punishment, the United States remains one of the few countries in the Americas and Europe that still uses execution. There has been little discussion around the implications of psychiatry's involvement in providing care to incarcerated individuals awaiting death. The following perspective examines the United States as an example of a democratic and highly developed country where the death penalty remains an undeniable reality; the piece provides a brief discussion on psychiatry's relationship with end-of-life care to provide context for subsequent discussion on the role of the psychiatrist on death row in the United States. Medicolegal and ethical considerations are further outlined to identify specific concessions that might be made by the US criminal justice system to truly allow death row psychiatrists to practice to the highest standard of compassionate care.