Palliative Care Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Protection of Conscience Project Library

Questions and Answers on the Belgian Model of Integral End-of-Life Care: Experiment? Prototype?: “Eu-Euthanasia”: The Close Historical, and Evidently Synergistic, Relationship Between Palliative Care and Euthanasia in Belgium

An Interview With a Doctor Involved in the Early Development of Both and Two of His Successors

Jan L. Bernheim, Wim Distelmans, Arsène Mullie, Michael A. Ashby

Abstract
This article analyses domestic and foreign reactions to a 2008 report in the British Medical Journal on the complementary and, as argued, synergistic relationship between palliative care and euthanasia in Belgium. The earliest initiators of palliative care in Belgium in the late 1970s held the view that access to proper palliative care was a precondition for euthanasia to be acceptable and that euthanasia and palliative care could, and should, develop together. Advocates of euthanasia including author Jan Bernheim, independent from but together with British expatriates, were among the founders of what was probably the first palliative care service in Europe outside of the United Kingdom. In what has become known as the Belgian model of integral end-of-life care, euthanasia is an available option, also at the end of a palliative care pathway. This approach became the majority view among the wider Belgian public, palliative care workers, other health professionals, and legislators. The legal regulation of euthanasia in 2002 was preceded and followed by a considerable expansion of palliative care services. It is argued that this synergistic development was made possible by public confidence in the health care system and widespread progressive social attitudes that gave rise to a high level of community support for both palliative care and euthanasia. The Belgian model of so-called integral end-of-life care is continuing to evolve, with constant scrutiny of practice and improvements to procedures. It still exhibits several imperfections, for which some solutions are being developed. This article analyses this model by way of answers to a series of questions posed by Journal of Bioethical Inquiry consulting editor Michael Ashby to the Belgian authors.

Bernheim JL, Distelmans W, Mullie A, Ashby MA. Questions and Answers on the Belgian Model of Integral End-of-Life Care: Experiment? Prototype?: “Eu-Euthanasia”: The Close Historical, and Evidently Synergistic, Relationship Between Palliative Care and Euthanasia in Belgium: An Interview With a Doctor Involved in the Early Development of Both and Two of His Successors. J Bioethic Inq. 2014;11(4):507-529.

Dignity, death, and dilemmas: A study of Washington hospices and physician-assisted death

Courtney S Campbell, Margaret A Black

Abstract
The legalization of physician-assisted death in states such as Washington and Oregon has presented defining ethical issues for hospice programs because up to 90% of terminally ill patients who use the state-regulated procedure to end their lives are enrolled in hospice care. The authors recently partnered with the Washington State Hospice and Palliative Care Organization to examine the policies developed by individual hospice programs on program and staff participation in the Washington Death with Dignity Act. This article sets a national and local context for the discussion of hospice involvement in physician-assisted death, summarizes the content of hospice policies in Washington State, and presents an analysis of these findings. The study reveals meaningful differences among hospice programs about the integrity and identity of hospice and hospice care, leading to different policies, values, understandings of the medical procedure, and caregiving practices. In particular, the authors found differences 1) in the language used by hospices to refer to the Washington statute that reflect differences among national organizations, 2) the values that hospice programs draw on to support their policies, 3) dilemmas created by requests by patients for hospice staff to be present at a patient’s death, and 4) five primary levels of noninvolvement and participation by hospice programs in requests from patients for physician-assisted death. This analysis concludes with a framework of questions for developing a comprehensive hospice policy on involvement in physician-assisted death and to assist national, state, local, and personal reflection.

Campbell CS, Black MA. Dignity, death, and dilemmas: A study of Washington hospices and physician-assisted death. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2014 Jan;47(1):137-153.

Dignity, death, and dilemmas: A study of Washington hospices and physician-assisted death

Courtney S. Campbell, Margaret A. Black

Campbell CS, Black MA. Dignity, death, and dilemmas: A study of Washington hospices and physician-assisted death. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2013 Jul 3. pii: S0885-3924(13)00270-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2013.02.024. [Epub ahead of print]

Euthanasia is not medical treatment

J Donald Boudreau, Margaret A. Somerville

Abstract
Introduction or background
The public assumes that if euthanasia and assisted suicide were to be legalized they would be carried out by physicians.
Sources of data
In furthering critical analysis, we supplement the discourse in the ethics and palliative care literature with that from medical education and evolving jurisprudence.
Areas of agreement
Both proponents and opponents agree that the values of respect for human life and for individuals’ autonomy are relevant to the debate.
Areas of controversy
Advocates of euthanasia and assisted suicide give priority to the right to personal autonomy and avoid discussions of harmful impacts of these practices on medicine, law and society. Opponents give priority to respect for life and identify such harmful effects. These both require euthanasia to remain legally prohibited.
Growing points
Proposals are emerging that if society legalizes euthanasia it should not be mandated to physicians.
Areas timely for developing research
The impact of characterizing euthanasia as ‘medical treatment’ on physicians’ professional identity and on the institutions of medicine and law should be examined in jurisdictions where assisted suicide and euthanasia have been de-criminalized.

Boudreau JD, Somerville MA. Euthanasia is not medical treatment. Br Med Bull. 2013;106(1):45-66.

Assisted dying – the current situation in Flanders: euthanasia embedded in palliative care

Paul Vanden Berghe, Arsène Mullie, Marc Desmet, Gert Huysmans

Journal Summary
In Flanders (the Dutch-speaking, northern part of Belgium), in the course of the last ten years, physician-assisted dying and euthanasia have become embedded in palliative care. Paul Vanden Berghe, Arsène Mullie, Marc Desmet and Gert Huysmans, from the Federation of Palliative Care Flanders, describe how this major change happened and what issues it raises.

Berghe PV, Mullie A, Desmet M, Huysmans G. Assisted dying – the current situation in Flanders: euthanasia embedded in palliative care. European J Palliative Care. 2013;20(6):266-272.

The Attitude of Flemish Palliative Care Physicians to Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide

Bert Broeckaert, Joris Gielen, Trudie Van Iersel, Stef Van Den Branden

Abstract
Surveys carried out among palliative care physicians have shown that most participants do not support euthanasia and assisted suicide. Belgium, however, is one of the few countries in the world in which voluntary euthanasia is allowed by law. The potential influence of this legal dimension thus warranted a study of the attitudes of Belgian palliative care physicians toward euthanasia and assisted suicide. . . .The majority of the physicians favour legalisation on assisted suicide. There is no significant association between the euthanasia clusters and attitudes toward assisted suicide. We conclude that although most Flemish palliative care physicians agree that there may be circumstances in which a euthanasia request is justified, they also strongly believe in the effects of good palliative care and want the ‘palliative filter’ to be included in the law on euthanasia. Religion and worldview are an important factor determining attitudes towards euthanasia.

Broeckaert B, Gielen J, Iersel TV, Branden SVD. The Attitude of Flemish Palliative Care Physicians to Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. Ethical Perspectives. 2009;16(3):311-335.

To Die, to Sleep: US Physicians’ Religious and Other Objections to Physician-Assisted Suicide, Terminal Sedation, and Withdrawal of Life Support

Farr A Curlin, Chinyere Nwodim, Jennifer L Vance, Marshall H Chin, John D Lantos

American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care

Abstract
This study analyzes data from a national survey to estimate the proportion of physicians who currently object to physician-assisted suicide (PAS), terminal sedation (TS), and withdrawal of artificial life support (WLS), and to examine associations between such objections and physician ethnicity, religious characteristics, and experience caring for dying patients. Overall, 69% of the US physicians object to PAS, 18% to TS, and 5% to WLS. Highly religious physicians are more likely than those with low religiosity to object to both PAS (84% vs 55%, P < .001) and TS (25% vs 12%, P < .001). Objection to PAS or TS is also associated with being of Asian ethnicity, of Hindu religious affiliation, and having more experience caring for dying patients. These findings suggest that, with respect to morally contested interventions at the end of life, the medical care patients receive will vary based on their physicians’ religious characteristics, ethnicity, and experience caring for dying patients.

Curlin FA, Nwodim C, Vance JL, Chin MH, Lantos JD. To Die, to Sleep: US Physicians’ Religious and Other Objections to Physician-Assisted Suicide, Terminal Sedation, and Withdrawal of Life Support. American J Hospice & Pall Care. 2008;25(12):112-120.

Conscientious Objection: A Potential Neonatal Nursing Response to Care Orders That Cause Suffering at the End of Life? Study of a Concept

Anita Catlin, Deborah Volat, Mary Ann Hadley, Ranginah Bassir, Christine Armigo, Elnora Valle, Wendy Gong, Kelly Anderson

Abstract
This article is an exploratory effort meant to solicit and provoke dialog. Conscientious objection is proposed as a potential response to the moral distress experienced by neonatal nurses. The most commonly reported cause of distress for all nurses is following orders to support patients at the end of their lives with advanced technology when palliative or comfort care would be more humane. Nurses report that they feel they are harming patients or causing suffering when they could be comforting instead. We examined the literature on moral distress, fi.itility, and the concept of conscientious objection from the perspective of the nurse’s potential response to performing advanced technologic interventions for the dying patient. We created a small pilot study to engage in clinical verification of the use of our concept of conscientious objection. Data from 66 neonatal intensive care and pediatric intensive care unit nurses who responded in a one-month period are reported here. Interest in conscientious objection to care that causes harm or suffering was very high. This article reports the analysis of conscientious objection use in neonatal care.

Catlin A, Volat D, Hadley MA, Bassir R, Armigo C, Valle E et al. Conscientious Objection: A Potential Neonatal Nursing Response to Care Orders That Cause Suffering at the End of Life? Study of a Concept. Neonatal Netw. 2008 Mar;27(2):101-108. Available from:

Palliative Care and Euthanasia: Belgian and Dutch Perspectives

Bert Broeckaert, Rien Janssens

Extract
In the first part of this article the input of palliative care organisations in the Dutch euthanasia debate is described and explained by situating it in its broader context. First opinions on euthanasia of a variety of palliative care organisations are described. Secondly the Dutch debate on palliative care and euthanasia is analysed and evaluated. In a second part of this article a brief introduction to Belgian palliative care is given. This introduction is followed by an overview of the way organised palliative care has been active in the Belgian euthanasia debate. Attention too is given to the Belgian discussion on palliative sedation, sedation being presented by some as the palliative alternative to euthanasia but seen by others as nothing but euthanasia in disguise

Broeckaert B, Janssens R. Palliative Care and Euthanasia: Belgian and Dutch Perspectives. Ethical Perspectives 9(2-3); 2002 Feb 01, 156-175

Federatie Palliatieve Zorg Vlaanderen Pleit Voor Een Palliatieve Filter in de Euhanasie Procedure

(Flanders Palliative Care Federation Advocates A Palliative Filter in the Euthanasia Procedure)

Bert Broeckaert

Abstract
Op 20 maart 2001 werd het euthanasiewetsvoorstel van de meerderheidspartijen, samen met een wetsvoorstel over palliatieve zorg, goedgekeurd door de Verenigde Commissies voor Justitie en Sociale Aangelegenheden. Op initiatief van de Senaatsvoorzitter werd het euthanasiewetsvoorstel intussen doorgestuurd naar de Raad Van State, voor een spoedadvies. In zijn advies (2 juli 2001) stelt de Raad Van State uitdrukkelijk dat het euthanasiewetsvoorstel niet in strijd is met artikel 2 van het Europees Verdrag over de Rechten van de Mens (EVRM) en artikel 6 van het Internationaal Verdrag inzake Burgerlijke en Politieke Rechten (IVBPR), artikels die handelen over het door de wet beschermde recht op leven. Wat betreft het euthanasievoorstel beperkt de Raad van State zich tot detailkritiek.

In de bespreking van het wetsvoorstel over palliatieve zorg is de toon heel anders: hier toont de Raad Van State zich bijzonder kritisch. Vragen worden onder meer gesteld bij de vaagheid van de term palliatieve zorg, bij gecontroleerde sedatie en bij de federale bevoegdheid wat betreft de palliatieve zorg. Na het zomerreces is het nu (van 23 tot 25 oktober 2001) aan de plenaire vergadering van de Senaat om zich over het euthanasiewetsvoorstel uit te spreken.

Met de onderstaande tekst (26 september 2001) wil de Federatie Palliatieve Zorg Vlaanderen haar voorstel om in de euthanasieprocedure een palliatieve filter in te bouwen nogmaals onder de aandacht van de Senatoren brengen.

[Translation] On March 20, 2001, the euthanasia bill proposed by the majority parties, along with a bill on palliative care, was approved by the United Committees on Justice and Social Affairs. At the initiative of the Senate President, the euthanasia bill has now been forwarded to the Council of State for urgent advice. In its advice (July 2, 2001), the Council of State expressly states that the euthanasia bill does not conflict with Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ( ICCPR), articles dealing with the right to life protected by law. With regard to the euthanasia proposal, the Council of State restricts itself to detailed criticism.

In the discussion of the bill on palliative care, the tone is very different: the Council of State is particularly critical here. Questions are asked about the vagueness of the term palliative care, about controlled sedation and about the federal competence with regard to palliative care. After the summer recess, it is now (from 23 to 25 October 2001) up to the plenary session of the Senate to pronounce on the euthanasia bill.

With the text below (September 26, 2001), the Federation Palliative Care Flanders wants to bring its proposal to include a palliative filter in the euthanasia procedure once again to the attention of the Senators.

Broeckaert B. Federatie Palliatieve Zorg Vlaanderen Pleit Voor Een Palliatieve Filter in de Euhanasie Procedure (Flanders Palliative Care Federation Advocates A Palliative Filter in the Euthanasia Procedure). Ethische perspectieven. 2001;11(3):171-176.