Belgian patients 'given lethal injections'

The study comes amid intense debate about euthanasia in the Netherlands and Belgium

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- More than three patients in 100 are given a lethal injection without giving their permission in Belgium's northern Flemish region every year, according to a medical study.

Euthanasia, where a patient explicitly asks to have his or her life ended, accounts for a further 1.3 percent of deaths in the region, according to a Belgian university study, published in the British medical journal The Lancet.

The study comes amid intense debate about euthanasia in Belgium, whose Dutch neighbours are set to make history next week by becoming the first country to legalise euthanasia.

Belgium is considering proposals from the ruling Socialist, Liberal and Green coalition to decriminalise certain forms of euthanasia, against fierce Christian Democrat opposition.

The Belgian study, conducted in 1998 and based on anonymous questionnaires sent to physicians, follows similar surveys in Australia in 1995 and in the Netherlands in 1990 and 1995.

Australia's Northern Territory legalised medically assisted suicide for terminally ill patients in 1996, but the law was later repealed.

The Belgian study found that in almost 40 percent of deaths, a medical end-of-life decision was involved -- either to shorten a patient's life, alleviate pain with a potentially life-shortening treatment or by withholding treatment.

The frequency of deaths preceded by an end-of-life decision is similar in Belgium and the Netherlands, but lower than in Australia, which was 64.8 percent in 1995.

"However, in Flanders, the rate of administration of lethal drugs to patients without their explicit request is similar to Australia, and significantly higher than in the Netherlands," the study said.

In the Netherlands, the rate was 0.7 percent of all deaths in 1995, about four times less than that in northern Belgium. In Australia, some 3.5 percent of all deaths were the result of lethal injection without the patient's explicit request.

"Perhaps less attention is given to the requirements of careful end-of-life practice in a society with a restrictive approach than in one with an open approach that tolerates and regulates euthanasia and PAS (Physician Assisted Suicide)," the study concluded, referring to the different approaches in Belgium and Australia, on the one hand, and the Netherlands on the other.

Dutch-speaking Flanders accounts for almost 60 percent of the Belgian population.

The lower house of the Dutch parliament is expected to approve a law to formally allow euthanasia next Tuesday.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Terminally ill think of suicide, but few actually do it, study finds
November 14, 2000
Oregon assisted suicide rate stays low
February 23, 2000
Paralyzed woman dies after winning euthanasia fight
May 19, 1999
Kevorkian to be sentenced today
April 13, 1999
Assisted suicide debate doesn't end with imprisonment
April 12, 1999

Belgian Federal Government
The Lancet
The Netherlands Government

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.