By Eva C.A. Asscher and Suzanne van de Vathorst. On September 11th 2019, a verdict was reached in the first prosecution of a doctor for carrying out euthanasia in The Netherlands since the 2002 Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide (Review Procedures) Act was passed. The case concerned a patient with severe dementia […]
Category: death and/or dying
What does the public think should happen when parents and doctors disagree about life support for a child?
By Claudia Brick and Dominic Wilkinson. The case of Tafida Raqeeb, currently being heard in the High Court, is the latest high profile legal battle between physicians and parents about life sustaining treatment for a seriously ill child. Since suffering a severe stroke in February, five-year old Tafida has been in intensive care at the […]
A Call for True Medical Assistance in Dying for Minors
By Joel L. Gamble, Nathan K. Gamble, Michal Pruski If you ask medical students why they seek to enter the profession, you will hear stories about physicians who made the sick whole. Some felt the call of the Healing Art as they witnessed restoration in a close family member, or experienced it themselves. Though the […]
The bitter end: Which question matters most in disputes about treatment
By Dominic Wilkinson @Neonatalethics and Julian Savulescu @Juliansavulescu This week, doctors in France are reported to be withdrawing life-prolonging treatment from Vincent Lambert, a 42 year old French psychiatric nurse, who has been at the centre of a long-running legal battle over his medical treatment. Lambert was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident in 2008, […]
How should crisis sedation be presented to dying patients at risk of a catastrophic event?
By Dr Nathan Emmerich and Prof Bert Gordijn When we consider the end of our life and the actual circumstances of our death the vast majority of us would prefer to go peacefully, perhaps dying of simple old age at the end of a life well lived. Unfortunately, this is not always possible. Whilst the […]