Introduction: In The Netherlands, physicians have to be convinced that the patient suffers unbearably and hopelessly before granting a request for euthanasia. The extent to which general practitioners (GPs), consulted physicians and members of the euthanasia review committees judge this criterion similarly was evaluated.
Ms. Francine Lalonde moved that Bill C-384, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (right to die with dignity) be read the second time and referred to a committee: Mr. Speaker, I first introduced a private member's bill on the right to die with dignity in June 2005 . . . In fact, I introduced this bill so that people would have a choice, the same right to choose that people in other countries have. My conviction has grown stronger, and that is why I am introducing an amended bill on the right to die with dignity, Bill C-384. Briefly, it amends the Criminal code so that a medical practitioner does not commit homicide just by helping a person to die with dignity if the person continues to experience severe physical or mental pain without any prospect of relief or suffers from a terminal illness.
The number of people suffering from dementia will rise considerably in the years to come. This will have important implications for society. People suffering from dementia have to rely on relatives and professional caregivers when their disorder progresses. Some people want to determine for themselves their moment of death, if they should become demented. They think that the decline in personality caused by severe dementia is shocking and unacceptable. In this context, some people consider euthanasia as a way to avoid total deterioration. In this article, we discuss some practical and ethical dilemmas regarding euthanasia in persons with severe dementia based on an advance euthanasia directive.
In the legal performance of the euthanasia procedure, unbearable suffering, one of the requirements of due care, is difficult to assess. Evaluation of the current knowledge of unbearable suffering is needed in the ongoing debate about the conditions on which EAS can be approved. Using an integrative literature review, we evaluated publications with definitions of suffering in general or in end-of-life situations and with descriptions of suffering in the context of a request for EAS.
Artsen steunen euthanasie bij dementie Publicatie Nr. 27 - 08 juli 2011 Jaargang 2011 Rubriek NieuwsReflex Auteur Joost Visser, KNMG Pagina's 1684 Een op de vijf artsen steunt het burgerinitiatief van Uit Vrije Wil, een op de drie vindt hulp bij zelfdoding aan patiënten met een chronische depressie of beginnende dementie te rechtvaardigen.
Publicatie 16 maart 2011 Rubriek Online only Auteur Gert van Dijk Stervenshulp aan ouderen onder huidige wet al mogelijk Op 16 maart presenteerde de initiatiefgroep Uit Vrije Wil het wetsvoorstel ‘stervenshulp aan ouderen’. Dit wetsvoorstel is bedoeld om ouderen hulp bij zelfdoding te geven als zij hun leven ‘voltooid’ achten.
Unbearable suffering is the outcome of an intensive process that originates in the symptoms of illness and/or ageing. According to patients, hopelessness is an essential element of unbearable suffering. Medical and social elements may cause suffering, but especially when accompanied by psycho-emotional and existential problems suffering will become ‘unbearable’. Personality characteristics and biographical aspects greatly influence the burden of suffering. Unbearable suffering can only be understood in the continuum of the patients' perspectives of the past, the present and expectations of the future.
The case of a paralysed man who wants doctors to be able to take his life without fear of prosecution is being heard at the High Court. Tony Nicklinson, 58, from Wiltshire, has locked-in syndrome following a stroke seven years ago. The hearing represents a fundamental challenge to the law on murder, the BBC's Fergal Walsh reports. [includes short interview with Penney Lewis]
After a stroke in 2005 left him almost completely paralysed, Tony Nicklinson has been fighting for the right to end his own life. Here, ahead of a high court ruling, he is interviewed via Twitter by Observer readers and Elizabeth Day, who meets his family and supporters – along with opponents of euthanasia
PUTTE, Belgium—In this small village amid an array of Flemish farms, they were an unusual but seemingly happy pair, two 43-year-olds who were identical, deaf twins. Townspeople recalled seeing Marc and Eddy Verbessem around town frequently, talking animatedly in sign language together, tooling around in a small blue car, and regularly buying two copies of a popular gossip magazine. No one expected them to decide to die on purpose.
Physician-assisted suicide laws in Oregon and Washington require the person's current competency and a prognosis of terminal illness. In The Netherlands voluntariness and unbearable suffering are required for euthanasia. Many people are more concerned about the loss of autonomy and independence in years of severe dementia than about pain and suffering in their last months. To address this concern, people could write advance directives for physician-assisted death in dementia. Should such directives be implemented even though, at the time, the person is no longer competent and would not be either terminally ill or suffering unbearably? We argue that in many cases they should be, and that a sliding scale which considers both autonomy and the capacity for enjoyment provides the best justification for determining when: when written by a previously well-informed and competent person, such a directive gains in authority as the later person's capacities to generate new critical interests a...
A Belgian man has chosen to die by euthanasia, after his sex change operation turned him into “a monster”. Nathan Verhelst, 44, was administered legal euthanasia on Monday afternoon, on the grounds of “unbearable psychological suffering”
Belgium is set to debate this week whether or not it will extend its laws allowing euthanasia to include children and those suffering from long-term “diseases of the brain” like Alzheimer’s.