President Emmanuel Macron has launched a series of national consultations aimed at a possible reform by the end of next year of current legislation in France which prohibits euthanasia and assisted suicide, and limits medical intervention to the administration of deep sedation only in the final stages of a patient’s illness. In the meantime, those already in deep suffering from incurable degenerative diseases and who wish to end their lives before the worst stages have only the option of doing so in countries which allow euthanasia or assisted suicide, notably Belgium and Switzerland. Sarah Boucault reports.
The death of Vincent Lambert, 42, who had been in a persistent vegetative state since a motorcycle accident 11 years ago, was announced on Thursday, one week after doctors began withdrawing his life support at the end of a lengthy legal battle that bitterly divided his family.
Doctors in a hospital in Reims, north-east France, have begun removing the last support systems keeping alive Vincent Lambert, who was left quadriplegic with what they say describe as irreversible brain damage following a traffic accident 11 years ago, after his parents finally lost their six-year legal battle opposing the move, a case which bitterly divided Lambert's family.
A French hospital has begun the process of ending life support for Vincent Lambert, 42, who suffered severe brain damage after a traffic accident in 2008, with the agreement of his wife and several siblings but to the dismay of his parents who have fought a lengthy but unsuccessful legal battle against the decision.
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