Comparative Reflections on the Belgian Euthanasia Act 2002

Adams, Maurice; Nys, Herman

doi:10.1093/medlaw/11.3.353

Cited by 19 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…They do so by scrutinizing the physician's report, and, if necessary, by asking the physician to supplement this report either orally or in writing, or by obtaining information from other persons involved. The Belgian Euthanasia Act, that legalizes euthanasia since 2002, is largely similar to the Dutch Euthanasia Act [18]: the Belgian Act includes similar criteria of due care but review is done by one multidisciplinary committee. Luxembourg legislation (2008), draws heavily on the Belgian experience [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reporting of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide in the Netherlands: descriptive study

et al. 2009

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundAn important principle underlying the Dutch Euthanasia Act is physicians' responsibility to alleviate patients' suffering. The Dutch Act states that euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide are not punishable if the attending physician acts in accordance with criteria of due care. These criteria concern the patient's request, the patient's suffering (unbearable and hopeless), the information provided to the patient, the presence of reasonable alternatives, consultation of another physician and the applied method of ending life. To demonstrate their compliance, the Act requires physicians to report euthanasia to a review committee. We studied which arguments Dutch physicians use to substantiate their adherence to the criteria and which aspects attract review committees' attention.MethodsWe examined 158 files of reported euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide cases that were approved by the review committees. We studied the physicians' reports and the verdicts of the review committees by using a checklist.ResultsPhysicians reported that the patient's request had been well-considered because the patient was clear-headed (65%) and/or had repeated the request several times (23%). Unbearable suffering was often substantiated with physical symptoms (62%), function loss (33%), dependency (28%) or deterioration (15%). In 35%, physicians reported that there had been alternatives to relieve patients' suffering which were refused by the majority. The nature of the relationship with the consultant was sometimes unclear: the consultant was reported to have been an unknown colleague (39%), a known colleague (21%), otherwise (25%), or not clearly specified in the report (24%). Review committees relatively often scrutinized the consultation (41%) and the patient's (unbearable) suffering (32%); they had few questions about possible alternatives (1%).ConclusionDutch physicians substantiate their adherence to the criteria in a variable way with an emphasis on physical symptoms. The information they provide is in most cases sufficient to enable adequate review. Review committees' control seems to focus on (unbearable) suffering and on procedural issues.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reporting of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide in the Netherlands: descriptive study

et al. 2009

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For this reason, the so-called countries, which advocate an application contrary to the approaches of the global organizations to which they belong, constitute a contradiction. Elaborated by author(s): Adams and Nys, 2003;Anonymous, 1988;Appel, 2004;BBC, 2015a;BBC, 2015b;BBC,2016;Belgian Ministry of Justice, 2002;Burleigh and Boyd, 1995;Care, 2016;Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, 2015;Emanuel, 1994;End of Life Law in Canada, 2016;Globalnews, 2016;Griffiths, Weyers and Adams, 2008;Health Law Institute, 2016;Huffingtonpost, 2016;Hurst and Mauron, 2003;Hurst and Mauron, 2016;Inceoğlu, 1998;Jans, 2005;Julezs, 2016;Kroneman, Boerma, Berg, Groenewegen, Jong, Ginneken, 2016;Legilux, 2009;Luxembourgpublic, 2016;Manav, 2016;Materstvedt, et al 2003; National Academy of Science and Engineering and Union of the German Academies of Sciences and Humanities, 2015;Pereira, 2011;ProCon, 2017;Rob Jonquiere, private interview 05.12.2016;Sayid, 1983;Scherer and Simon, 1999;Smets, Bilsen, Cohen, Rurup and Deliens 2010;Stajano, 2015;Varadarajan, Freeman and Parmar, 2016;World, 2015. …”

Section: Countries' Law and Medical Perspective Of Euthanasiamentioning

confidence: 99%

One Way Ticket-Route To Death: How Right Is To Promote As A Commercial Initiative

Kılıçlar

Küçükergin

Kurt

et al. 2017

isarder

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this study, it has been argued the efforts of combining the concept of euthanasia and assisted suicide in the last few years with the concept of tourism. This study aims to investigate the concepts of euthanasia/assisted suicide with their medical, legal and religious dimensions and how right it is to promote the practicing centers as commercial tourism initiatives. Initially, tourism and tourist concepts have been explained then medical and juristically embodiments and applications have been detailed. It is pointed that, in many countries euthanasia and assisted suicide is forbidden while Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, United States of America, Canada and Colombia are the countries accepting euthanasia/assisted suicide. Switzerland has a unique place practicing euthanasia/assisted suicide although it is not accepted legally. Subsequently, religious point of view has been discussed and it has been clarified that euthanasia/assisted suicide and tourism concept cannot coexist.

show abstract

“…However, the legislative history makes clear that the patient should be able to bypass his or her attending physician if so desired Ð from which one might infer that there is no requirement for a pre-existing physicianÐpatient relationship. 60 In Oregon, the attending physician is defined as Ôthe physician who has primary responsibility for the care of the patient and treatment of the patientÕs terminal diseaseÕ. There is no requirement that the patient have a longstanding relationship with the attending physician before the prescription of lethal medication.…”

Section: Assistormentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effectiveness of Legal Safeguards in Jurisdictions that Allow Assisted Dying

Lewis¹,

Black²

2012

SSRN Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Comparative Reflections on the Belgian Euthanasia Act 2002

Cited by 19 publications

References 0 publications

Reporting of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide in the Netherlands: descriptive study

Reporting of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide in the Netherlands: descriptive study

One Way Ticket-Route To Death: How Right Is To Promote As A Commercial Initiative

The Effectiveness of Legal Safeguards in Jurisdictions that Allow Assisted Dying

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About