  However, this problem has been replaced by another: Is it harmful or beneficial to help a competent patient who has requested help in causing a hastened death? In addition to vexed questions about the purported distinction between killing and letting die, this issue presses the question of what counts as a benefit and what counts as a harm. Is requested death in the face of miserable suffering a benefit for some patients while a harm caused to other patients? When is it a benefit, and when a harm? Is the answer to this question determined by the method used to bring about death--for example, withdrawal of treatment by contrast to use of lethal medication?