Medical assistance in dying and older persons in Belgium: trends, emerging issues and challenges
Open accessAbstract
In 2002, the Belgian Act on euthanasia came into effect, regulating the intentional ending of life by a physician at the patient’s explicit request. Subsequently, the number of reported euthanasia deaths increased every year. Specifically, the proportion of euthanasia deaths in older persons has risen significantly in the last few years. Since the conception of the Euthanasia Act, Belgian physicians have been confronted with challenges concerning euthanasia requests in older persons with polypathology, tiredness of life or dementia. By exploring these issues, this commentary highlights the importance of a meticulous and team-based assessment of the (i) seriousness of the underlying condition, (ii) voluntariness of the request and (iii) decisional capacity of the older person requesting euthanasia.
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There is an ethical distinction between helping a dying person die peacefully and providing death to a non-dying person.
“the ethical distinction between helping a dying person die peacefully versus providing death to a non-dying person”
From Debating Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Death in People with Psychiatric Disorders (2022) · cites this paper as [23]
In “Challenges with regard to euthanasia for geriatric medicine” (page unavailable), the paper discusses whether euthanasia eligibility requires a life-limiting or life-threatening condition and notes requests from people without such a disease. It does not state the claimed ethical distinction between helping a dying person die peacefully and providing death to a non-dying person. (LLM, conf=0.74)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredMAiD-NT may put vulnerable or marginalized people at risk of seeking death as a relief from poverty, loneliness, or other psychosocial stressors.
“the difficulty that MAiD-NT may put vulnerable or marginalized people at risk of seeking death as a relief from poverty, loneliness, or other psychosocial stressors”
From Debating Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Death in People with Psychiatric Disorders (2022) · cites this paper as [23]
The “Challenges with regard to euthanasia for geriatric medicine” section (page unavailable) says older people may feel pressured to request euthanasia because of social redundancy, thwarted belongingness, and feeling burdensome, including in discussions of wishes to die without life-threatening disease. It does not address poverty or establish this risk for marginalized people generally; its discussion is confined to older persons. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe prognosis of non-terminal conditions such as most mental illnesses is unpredictable.
“the unpredictability of prognosis of non-terminal conditions such as most mental illnesses”
From Debating Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Death in People with Psychiatric Disorders (2022) · cites this paper as [23]
The 'Challenges with regard to euthanasia for geriatric medicine' section discusses difficulty assessing whether an underlying disorder is serious and decisional capacity in patients with depression or dementia. It does not address whether the prognosis of non-terminal conditions, including most mental illnesses, is unpredictable. Searches for the claim’s wording and for psychiatric prognosis found no supporting passage in our copy; page numbers were unavailable. (LLM, conf=0.76)
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Debating Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Death in People with Psychiatric Disorders
Grassi, L., Folesani, F., Marella, M., Tiberto, E., Riba, M. B., Bortolotti, L., Toffanin, T., Palagini, L., Belvederi Murri, M., Biancosino, B., et al. (2022) · Current Psychiatry Reports · doi:10.1007/s11920-022-01339-y · Cited by 39 · see citing works
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Euthanasia and Medical Assistance in Dying as Challenges for Physicians’ Well-Being
Grassi, L., Gaind, K. S., Nash, T., & Caruso, R. (2022) · Depression, Burnout and Suicide in Physicians · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-84785-2_8 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
- Authors
- Van Den Noortgate, N., & Van Humbeeck, L.
- Affiliations
- Department of Geriatric Medicine, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
- Venue
- Age and Ageing
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2020-06-22
- Volume
- 50
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 68-71
- ISSN
- 0002-0729 (ISSN-L)
- 1468-2834
- OpenAlex
- W3037276148
- Cited by
- 18
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 2.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model (vor)
- Locations
- Age and Ageing (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Palliative and Oncologic Care
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Ethics and bioethics in healthcare
- Keywords
- medical assistance in dying, euthanasia, older adults, euthanasia requests, dementia, decision-making capacity, serious illness, physician-patient relationship, Belgium
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Belgium, Euthanasia, Humans, Medical Assistance, Physicians
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