'Setting a principled boundary'? Euthanasia as a response to 'life fatigue'

Bioethics

Volumn 21, Issue 3, 2007, Pages 117-126

  Huxtable, Richard ^a   Möller, Maaike ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL   (United Kingdom)

^b Obstetrics and Gynaecology   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Autonomy; Beneficence; Euthanasia; Netherlands; Slippery slope

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; BENEFICENCE; COURT; EUTHANASIA; FATIGUE; HUMAN; LEGAL ASPECT; PERIMETER; PHYSICIAN;

AGED, 80 AND OVER; EUTHANASIA, ACTIVE, VOLUNTARY; HUMANS; MALE; NETHERLANDS; PERSONAL AUTONOMY; PHYSICIAN'S ROLE; SUICIDE, ASSISTED;

EID: 33846986022     PISSN: 02699702     EISSN: 14678519     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8519.2007.00535.x     Document Type: Article

References (44)

1. Quoted in N.S. Jecker. Knowing When to Stop: The Limits of Medicine. Hastings Cent Rep 1991; 21: 5-8.
2. In accordance with the Dutch convention, the case will be labelled 'Brongersma', as opposed to 'Sutorius'.
3. For a full explanation of the euthanasia policy in The Netherlands, see, e.g. J. Griffiths, A. Bood & H.Weyers. 1998. Euthanasia and Law in the Netherlands. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
4. (See M. Möller & R. Huxtable. Euthanasia in the Netherlands: The Case of 'Life Fatigue'. New Law J 2001; 151: 1600-1601;
5. J. Keown. 2002. Euthanasia, Ethics and Public Policy: An Argument Against Legalisation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: especially at 87, 109-110.) The media interest seems also to have been generated by the fact that Brongersma was a public figure (a former Dutch senator), allegedly under investigation in relation to paedophilic pornography.
6. Anonymous. 2000. Vrijspraak huisarts in de zaak-Brongersma (Acquittal of GP in Brongersma case). De Volkskrant 31 October.
7. Anonymous. 2000. Grens overscheden: Hoger beroep OM in zaak-Brongersma (Boundary crossed: Public prosecutor appeals Brongersma case verdict). NRC Handelsblad 4 November.
8. Anonymous. 2000. Hof heropent onderzoek zaak-Brongersma (Court of Appeal re-opens Brongersma case). NRC Handelsblad 9 May.
9. M. Oostveen. 2001. Huisarts Sutorius voelt zich onbegrepen (GP Sutorius feels misunderstood). NRC Handelsblad 9 November.
10. See Eur J Health Law 2001; 8(2): 183-191.
11. e.g. E.J. Emanuel. Euthanasia: Where the Netherlands Leads Will the World Follow? Br Med J 2001; 322: 1376-1377.
12. J. De Haan. The Ethics of Euthanasia: Advocates Perspectives. Bioethics 2002; 16(2): 154-172.
13. Ibid: 169.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid.
16. See e.g. P. Singer. 1994. Rethinking Life and Death: The Collapse of Our Traditional Ethics. New York: St Martin's Press (consequentialist);
17. L. van Zyl. 2000. Death and Compassion: A Virtue-Based Approach to Euthanasia. Aldershot, Hampshire, UK: Ashgate (virtue ethicist).
18. De Haan, op. cit. note 11, p. 162.
19. Ibid: 171.
20. This is only arguable; we shall return to the issue in a later section.
21. Keown, op. cit. note 4, p. 84.
22. Cited in J. Legemaate. 1998. Twenty-Five Years of Dutch Experience and Policy on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: An Overview. In Asking to Die: Inside the Dutch Debate About Euthanasia. D.C. Thomasma et al., eds. Dordrecht: Kluwer: 19-34.
23. H. Drion. 1991. Het zelfgewilde einde van oude mensen. NRC Handelsblad 19 October. The article was subsequently published along with reactions thereto in a book of the same title.
24. Quoted in Moller and Huxtable, op. cit. note 4.
25. V. Cotterell. 2001. Hof acth Sutorius shculdig, maar straffeloos (Court of Appeal finds Sutorius guilty, but doesn't punish). Het Parool 7 December.
26. K.M. Boyd. Disease, Illness, Sickness, Health, Healing and Wholeness: Exploring Some Elusive Concepts. Med Humanit 2000; 26: 9-17, at 12.
27. I. Kennedy. 1981. The Unmasking of Medicine. London: Allen and Unwin: at 7-8.
28. Ibid: 10-11.
29. See e.g. R.F. Chadwick. 1987. Having Children: Introduction. In Ethics, Reproduction and Genetic Control. R.F. Chadwick, ed. London: Croom Helm: 3-43, at 17-18;
30. J.V.M. Welie. 'Do You Have a Healthy Smile?' Med Health Care Philos 1999; 2(2): 169-180.
31. Quoted in Boyd, op. cit. note 24, at p. 11.
32. G.J. Izaks. 2001. Determinants of Mortality in Old Age. Leiden. (unpublished thesis: see http://www.thesesonline.nl/thesis.php?id=46 [accessed 12 November 2006]).
33. B. Chabot. 1993. Zelf Beschikt. Amsterdam: Uitgeverijbalans: at 76-80.
34. L. Gormally. 1994. Against Voluntary Euthanasia. In Principles of Health Care Ethics. R. Gillon, ed. Chichester: John Wiley and Sons: 763-774, at 768.
35. See e.g. T. Sheldon. Dutch Court Rules on Nurses' Role in Euthanasia. Br Med J 1995; 311: 895;
36. T. Sheldon. Dutch Appeal Court Dismisses Case Against Doctor. Br Med J 1995; 311: 1322.
37. Oostveen, op. cit. note 8.
38. M.F.A. Otlowski. 1997. Voluntary Euthanasia and the Common Law. Oxford: Clarendon Press: 149-150.
39. Pretty v Director of Public Prosecutions [2002] 1 All ER 1.
40. See e.g. Otlowski, op. cit. note 34, especially pp. 140-152.
41. e.g. In Airedale NHS Trust v Bland [1993] 2 WLR 316 a patient in a persistent vegetative state had his life support withdrawn on the basis that its continuation was no longer in his best interests. The court denied it had set a precedent available in other cases, although it would consider the fates of other patients in this condition. Notably, however, the omission of life support was also sanctioned in the next case, although it was not clear that the patient was in a persistent vegetative state (see Frenchay NHS Trust v S [1994] 1 WLR 601).
42. Re A (children)(conjoined twins: surgical separation) [2000] 4 All ER 961.
43. Re B (Adult: Refusal of Medical Treatment) [2002] 2 All ER 449.
44. J.H. Dijkhuis. 2004. In Search of Norms for the Behaviour of Doctors with Requests of Life Termination in the Case of Life Suffering. KNMG.