Keyword: Euthanasia

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.

Nicolas Bonnemaison, who was convicted of poisoning a terminally ill patient, was found slumped in a vehicle in south-west France.

But court found Nicolas Bonnemaison guilty of just one count of killing a patient and he was given a two-year suspended jail sentence.

The National Assembly passed a bill that stops short of euthanasia but allows doctors to give deep sedation to patients until their death.

Draft law moves a step closer to euthanasia by giving right to 'deep and ongoing sedation' until death for terminally-ill patients who request it.

Nicolas Bonnemaison, who ended the lives of seven terminally-ill patients, was acquitted of all charges after trial that raised issue of euthanasia.

But parents of Vincent Lambert, who has been in a coma since 2008, appeal to European Court of Human Rights over case that has split family.

The trial of a doctor accused of fatally poisoning seven patients close to death will judge whether his actions were palliative care or homicide.

The court ruled against ending the life of a 38-year-old quadriplegic for five years in a vegetative state and whose family are divided over his fate.

Medical ethics council rules that assisted suicide be allowed when ailing patients make "persistent, lucid and repeated requests" to end their life.