On the 17th June 2003, The Lancet published a report entitled ‘End-of-life decision-making in six European countries: descriptive study’, which examines the frequency and characteristics of end-of-life decision-making practices in Belgium (Flanders), Denmark, Italy (four areas), the Netherlands, Sweden and the German-speaking part of Switzerland.
The Convention on the Future of Europe is a temporary body set up by the European Union (EU) Heads of Government in February 2002 to simplify the EU Treaty and identify necessary institutional reform in preparation for 2004 when 10 more states will become members of the Union. The Convention has a total of 105 members, representing national governments, national parliaments, the European Parliament and the European Commission.
The Joint Committee on Human Rights is appointed by the House of Lords and the House of Commons to consider matters relating to human rights in the United Kingdom. All of its members are former lawyers or academics.
Future notice: On 6th June a Patient (Assisted Dying) Bill will proceed to its second reading in the House of Lords.
On 15 January a resolution that would radically change Luxembourg law on euthanasia was narrowly defeated in the Luxembourg parliament.
On the 13th May the Isle of Man’s House of Keys (parliament) voted in favour of introducing a Bill to allow terminally ill adults the right to choose medical help to die.
THE BOSTON DECLARATION ON ASSISTED DYING, made at the 13th International Conference of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies held in Boston, Massachussetts from September 1 to 3, 2000.
The Brussels Declaration on Assisted Dying, made at the 14th International Conference of the World Federation of Right to Die Societies held in Brussels, Belgium from 5- 8 September 2002.
American Medical Association Policies: Withholding or Withdrawing Life-Sustaining Medical Treatment
American Medical Association: Principles of Medical Ethics
The medical profession has long subscribed to a body of ethical statements developed primarily for the benefit of the patient. As a member of this profession, a physician must recognize responsibility not only to patients, but also to society, to other health professionals, and to self. The following Principles adopted by the American Medical Association are not laws, but standards of conduct that define the essentials of honorable behavior for the physician.
Principles of Medical Ethics
American Medical Association Policies: Assisted Suicide
Physician-assisted suicide occurs when a physician facilitates a patients death by providing the necessary means and/or information to enable the patient to perform the life-ending act (e.g., the physician provides sleeping pills and information about the lethal dose, while aware that the patient may commit suicide).
Are Living Wills Followed?
Having an advance directive is no guarantee that end-of-life wishes will be honored. A 1995 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded study of 4,300 critically ill patients found that only 49 percent who requested do not resuscitate (DNR) orders actually got them; 70 percent of those patients were never asked their preferences. There have been many cases in which individuals who have taken all the right steps have been deprived of seeing their loved ones’ wishes carried out because of physician, family, or institutional resistance.
