Euthanasia: Searching for the Full Story

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xx

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2. The Slippery Slope Syndrome

   • Eric Vermeer

   Pages 1-14Open Access

3. The Doctor Turned into an Instrument

   • Catherine Dopchie

   Pages 15-24Open Access

4. When Conscience Wavers. Some Reflections on the Normalization of Euthanasia in Belgium

   • Willem Lemmens

   Pages 25-37Open Access

5. Euthanasia for Unbearable Psychological Suffering

   • An Haekens

   Pages 39-47Open Access

6. People Facing the Question of Euthanasia: Patients, Family and Friends, Healthcare Workers

   • Rivka Karplus

   Pages 49-59Open Access

7. Surrendering to or Inducing Death: Artificial Feeding as Paradigm

   • Marie Frings

   Pages 61-74Open Access

8. The Meaning of Suffering or the Meaning of Life Despite Suffering

   • Benoit Beuselinck

   Pages 75-84Open Access

9. Resisting

   • Julie Blanchard

   Pages 85-91Open Access

10. Behind the Scenes of Euthanasia

    • François Trufin

    Pages 93-103Open Access

11. Correction to: When Conscience Wavers. Some Reflections on the Normalization of Euthanasia in Belgium

    • Willem Lemmens

    Pages C1-C2Open Access

12. Back Matter

    Pages 105-110

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This open access book has been written by ten Belgian health care professionals, nurses, university professors and doctors specializing in palliative care and ethicists who, together, raise questions concerning the practice of euthanasia.  They share their experiences and reflections born out of their confrontation with requests for euthanasia and end-of-life support in a country where euthanasia has been decriminalized since 2002 and is now becoming a trivial topic.
Far from evoking any militancy, these stories of life and death present the other side of a reality needs to be evaluated more rigorously.
Featuring multidisciplinary perspectives, this though-provoking and original book is intended not only for caregivers but also for anyone who questions the meaning of death and suffering, as well as the impact of a law passed in 2002. Presenting real-world cases and experiences, it highlights the complexity of situations and the consequences of the euthanasia law.
This book appeals to palliative care providers, hematologists, oncologists, psychiatrists, nurses and health professionals as well as researchers, academics, policy-makers, and social scientists working in health care. It is also a unique resource for those in countries where the decriminalization of euthanasia is being considered. Sometimes shocking, it focuses on facts and lived experiences to challenge readers and offer insights into euthanasia in Belgium.

• Palliative Care
• Bioethics
• Critical views
• Therapeutic obstinacy
• Meaning of life
• Slippery slope
• Experiences from daily practice
• Open Access

• Department of Haematology, Universitaire Ziekenhuizen Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

  Timothy Devos

Professor Dr Timothy Devos is an internist-haematologist. Appointed in 2007 at the Leuven University Hospitals (UZ Leuven) in Belgium, he became a professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Leuven (KU Leuven) in 2009. His special clinical and research interests are palliative care, myeloproliferative syndromes and blood transfusion. He is the reference doctor in palliative care of the Haematology team at UZ Leuven.