荷兰、比利时安乐死合法化的成效与反思

Effect and Reflection on Euthanasia Legalization in Netherlands and Belgium

荷兰等国安乐死合法化十年的临床实践显示,请求安乐死的患者人数和实施安乐死案例逐渐增加;主要涉及终末期不可治愈的癌症患者,没有扩大病种范围的现象;有80%的执行案例都上报安乐死复审委员会接受监督;医生未经患者明确请求终止其生命的行为有所减少。这些结果为进一步依法提高患者临终关怀质量、保证患者人格尊严,促进其它国家安乐死立法进程具有积极的意义。

At the end of life decision making, there is a societal debate on two distinct behaviors of management ： one is to keep the traditional goals such as curing diseases and prolonging life and the other nowadays insists on the pursuit of benefits of patients and of a good quality of dying as an important goal. The Netherlands and the other western countries are the few places in the world where euthanasia and physician - assisted suicide are legal under specific circumstances. The results come from their clinical practice for the last ten years demonstrated that the frequency of euthanasia requested and granted has been increasing gradually, euthanasia and physician - assisted suicide is still mostly undertaken in the context of a terminally cancer patient and did not shift to different patient groups. As required by Dutch law, about 80% of cases and the frequency of ending of life without explicit request continued to fall. An in - depth analysis of these cases will play an active role in improving the quality of end - of - life practice, giving the vulnerable a death with dignity and informing the debate on legalization of euthanasia or physician -assisted suicide in other countries.