End of life (Belgium)

Every year in Belgium, tens of thousands of people and their families could benefit from such care, according to the Palliative Care Indicators Tool (PICT). This tool identifies patients in need of palliative care, based on criteria of frailty, incurability and severity of illness. Palliative care is not reserved solely for patients with a vital prognosis of less than 3 months, or for cancer sufferers. On the contrary, anyone suffering from a serious, progressive illness with no possible cure...

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The figures for 2023 also confirm the increase in euthanasia for polypathologies (+3% compared with 2022), the second most common type of illness mentioned, after cancer. Euthanasia for multiple diseases thus accounts for 23.2% of all euthanasia, almost half of which (47%) were carried out when death was not expected in the short term. As the Commission points out, polypathologies refer to "a combination of suffering caused by several chronic conditions that are progressing towards a final...

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To develop this proposal, the Amfora association organises training courses for palliative care networks, care for the elderly and institutions for the disabled, to help them conduct and develop end-of-life interviews. Amfora also works with the Samana association, to train their volunteers to work with people at the end of their lives. These interviews are an original and creative way of developing the fourth pillar of palliative care, which aims to meet patients' spiritual and existential...

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This case of Mortier v. Belgium, named after the applicant, the son of the euthanized person, was the first case in which the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) was called upon to assess the compatibility of euthanasiaalready practiced with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Tom Mortier alleged a violation of his mother's right to life, protected by Article 2 of the Convention, and of his right to respect for his private and family life, protected by Article 8 of the...

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As a reminder, the law passed in 2020 first provides that 'no written or unwritten clause can prevent a doctor from performing euthanasia'. This provision aims to de facto prohibit retirement homes or hospitals whose care project excludes the fact of ending the life of their residents or patients by euthanasia, and which favor accompaniment through palliative care. The applicant citizens, as well as the European Institute of Bioethics, the intervener in the action, considered that such a...

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In terms of the physician's intentions, the study distinguishes three situations. In the first scenario, the physician does not intend to cause or hasten the baby's death, but considers the potential effect of hastening death (e.g., decision not to administer antibiotics, administration of morphine or sedatives). The second scenario consists in the situation where the potential effect of hastening death is not the primary goal but is partly aimed at by the physician. The third scenario is that...

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The 2020 Belgium euthanasia data states that 57 people died by euthanasia based on psychiatric disorders and 48 people died by euthanasia based on cognitive disorders (dementia syndromes). Of the 57 deaths based on psychiatric disorders, 17 people had mood disorders (depression, bipolar, ...); 26 people had personality and behavioural disorders (compared to 13 for the previous period); 4 people had neurotic disorders, disorders linked to stressors and 6 somatoform disorders; 7 people had...

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