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EUTHANASIA

Video deepens row over Frenchman’s ‘right to die’

The case of a brain-damaged Frenchman who seems set to be taken off life support shook France anew on Wednesday, after his friends and family uploaded a video which they say proves that he is "far from the end of his life".

Video deepens row over Frenchman's 'right to die'
Vincent Lambert is in a paraplegic state in hospital. Photo: YouTube Screengrab
Vincent Lambert, 38, looked destined to be taken off life support after the European Court of Human Rights last week backed France's decision that he should be allowed to die.
 
Lambert was left a quadriplegic with severe brain damage after a 2008 road accident.
 
His wife supports the move, but his devout Catholic parents and some of his friends insist he is showing signs of improvement. 
 
But the judicial tug-of-war over his right to die has taken a new turn, just days after the European court's verdict.
 
Some of his friends and family who are against taking the man off life support uploaded a video to YouTube on Wednesday that they claim shows Lambert responding to them.
 
In the video, Emmanuel Guépin, one of Lambert's friends, speaks of how the patient is “responding” to his surroundings. Lambert's mother is heard on the phone telling him “the news is not good”, referring to the ruling from the European court. 
 
Guépin notes later that Lambert “reacts very strongly” to his brother with facial expressions. 
 
See the video here. 
 
 
 
However, experts have slammed the video saying that it is “manipulative”.
 
One of these was Professor Eric Kariger, who had worked in the team that has cared for Lambert over the years.
 
He told French channel Europe 1 that he had tears in his eyes watching the clip, saying that Lambert was indeed “in a serious and irreversible vegetative state”.
 
“It's manipulative. It's disrespectful to the patient, his wife, and their daughter, who are unable to mourn because of the relentlessness that's coming from his own family,” he said.
 
Lambert's mother Viviane has argued that her son is merely handicapped and any attempt to stop life-sustaining treatment would amount to “disguised euthanasia” while his wife Rachel insists he would not want to be kept alive artificially.
 
The legal drama began in January 2014, when Lambert's doctors, backed by his wife and six of his eight siblings, decided to stop the intravenous food and water keeping him alive in line with a 2005 passive euthanasia law in France.
 
Europe backs France on right to die verdict

(Vincent Lambert's parents have been heavily involved in the case. Photo: Herve Oudin/AFP)
 
However, his deeply devout Catholic parents, half-brother and sister won an urgent court application to stop the plan.
 
The case ignited a fierce debate around euthanasia in France where it remains illegal despite recent efforts to ease legislation dealing with the terminally ill — a campaign promise by President Francois Hollande.
   
In March, lawmakers voted overwhelmingly in favour of a law allowing medics to place terminally ill patients in a deep sleep until they die.
   
The law also makes “living wills” — drafted by people who do not want to be kept alive artificially if they are too ill to decide — legally binding on doctors.
   
Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg as well as in the US states of Vermont, Oregon and Washington.

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EUTHANASIA

Switzerland: What is the difference between assisted suicide and euthanasia?

While the terms often are used interchangeably, assisted suicide and euthanasia - and the laws that govern them - are quite different. Here’s what you need to know.

A person in a medical coat holds hands with another
Euthanasia and assisted suicide might be spoken of in the same breath, but they are quite different. Here's what you need to know. Photo by Matheus Ferrero on Unsplash

The terms assisted suicide, assisted dying and euthanasia are often used interchangeably – even by media and politicians covering the matter. 

There are however some key differences, both in terms of the legal situation and the practice itself. 

Assisted suicide is where a medical professional, usually a doctor but sometimes a pharmacist or other specialist, provides some form of medication to assist a patient as they commit suicide. 

EXPLAINED: How foreigners can access assisted suicide in Switzerland

Crucially, it is the patient who takes the final step, i.e. by taking a medication or by pressing a switch through which the medication is administered. 

Euthanasia on the other hand is where the medication which ends someone’s life is administered by a doctor or medical professional. 

Euthanasia is sometimes known as voluntary euthanasia, which references the fact that the patient volunteers for the process by providing consent. 

Other forms of medical intervention which lead to death – for instance turning off life support for someone who has been in a long-term coma – do not fit within the definition of voluntary euthanasia. 

The term ‘assisted dying’ is used as a grouping term to refer to both assisted suicide and euthanasia, although media sources – particularly in the United Kingdom – often use assisted dying when referring primarily to assisted suicide. 

What are the rules for assisted suicide and euthanasia in Switzerland? 

The law in Switzerland recognises the distinction between assisted suicide and euthanasia. 

Euthanasia is not permitted under law in Switzerland, while assisted suicide is allowed for both locals and foreigners. 

While article 115 of the Swiss penal code prohibits assisted suicide for “self-serving reasons” and article 114 prohibits “causing the death” of a person for “commendable motives, and in particular out of compassion for the victim”, assisted suicide for non-selfish reasons is not specifically prohibited as long as certain conditions are met. 

The Swiss supreme court has ruled the following: people must commit suicide by their own hand, for example, by taking medication themselves. A doctor cannot administer a lethal injection without being liable for criminal prosecution.

People must also be aware of actions they are undertaking and have given due consideration to their situation. In addition, they be consistently sure they wish to die, and, of course, not be under the influence of another person, or group of persons.

READ MORE: What you need to know about assisted suicide in Switzerland

Several other jurisdictions across Europe and the globe also make a legal distinction between the two, although euthanasia is legal in some countries including the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Columbia. 

What is the medical procedure involved?

Most Swiss associations request that patients drink sodium pentobarbital, a sedative that in strong enough doses causes the heart muscle to stop beating.

Since the substance is alkaline, it burns a bit when swallowed.

A professional prepares the needle, but it is up to the patient to open the valve that allows the short-acting barbiturate to mix with a saline solution and begin flowing into their vein.

A video is shot of the patient stating their name, date of birth and that they understand what they are about to do. The camera keeps rolling as they open the valve and the footage is used as evidence that they willingly took their own life.

It usually takes about 20 to 30 seconds for the patient to fall asleep.

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