On October 6, 2020, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada tabled a bill to eliminate the end-of-life criterion for the law on euthanasia and Medical Assistance In Dying (“MAiD”). Such a provision would make Canada the most permissive country in terms...
In Belgium, the Federal Control Commission for Evaluating Euthanasia (“CFCEE”) has submitted its ninth governmental report presenting the national statistics for euthanasia between 2018 and 2019. Euthanasia has significantly increased in Belgium, with a 12.6% annual...
On 30 September 2020, the Spanish Bioethics Committee issued a report contesting the bill on euthanasia. The bioethics committee does not regard euthanasia as a right. Quite the opposite. The committee insists on improving patients’ quality of life and advocates...
Alain Cocq, a 57-year-old Frenchman, has been fighting a courageous battle against a rare and incurable disease, which has made him severely disabled. In an attempt to publicly pressure French President Emmanuel Macron, he recently wrote an open letter requesting...
In France, the official decree issued on March 29, 2020, which authorized Rivotril® to be prescribed “off-label, in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak” was rescinded on May 12, (decree n° 2020-548, Art. 28, dated May 11, 2020). The exceptional derogation for using...
On April 23, the Dutch Supreme Court rendered a decision on the value of advance directives written by people with dementia by ruling that written requests are open to interpretation. Consequently, doctors can now legally carry out euthanasia on people with dementia...
