What is it about?
Euthanasia in Belgium is not limited to terminally ill patients. It may be applied to patients with chronic degenerative diseases. Presently people in Belgium wish to make it possible to euthanize incompetent patients who suffer from dementia. The paper explains the Belgian law and then explores arguments for and against euthanasia of patients with dementia. It probes the dementia paradox by elucidating Dworkin’s distinction between critical and experiential interests, arguing that at the end-of-life this distinction is not clear-cut. It is argued against euthanasia for patients with dementia, for respecting patients’ humanity and for providing them with more care, compassion and good doctoring.
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Why is it important?
Is it OK to euthanize patients who lack autonomy? Belgium and The Netherlands think this is fine. I dispute their stand.
Perspectives
In Memory of the great Ed Pellegrino with whom I discussed many aspects of this research.
Professor Raphael Cohen-Almagor
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: First Do No Harm: Euthanasia of Patients with Dementia in Belgium: Table 1., The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy A Forum for Bioethics and Philosophy of Medicine, December 2015, Oxford University Press (OUP),
DOI: 10.1093/jmp/jhv031.
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