A recent study out of Belgium reports thousands of patients are killed against their will by their doctors.
The study in the Journal of Medical Ethics found 1 in 60 patient deaths included someone who didn’t want to die, half were over the age of 80, and two-thirds were not suffering a terminal illness.
Professor Raphael Cohen-Almagor of Hull University, the study’s author, warned the Belgian population that they could be killed if doctors deemed their life not worth living.
“The decision as to which life is no longer worth living is not in the hands of the patient but in the hands of the doctor.
“It should also be noted that deliberately ending the lives of patients without their request is taking place in Belgium more than in all other countries that document such practices, including the Netherlands.
“It is worrying that some physicians take upon themselves the responsibility to deliberately shorten patients’ lives without a clear indication from the patients that this is what they would want,” said Cohen-Almagor.
Belgium’s euthanasia law is the world’s most liberal, even permitting assisted suicide for children with disabilities and terminal illness.
[12 June 2015, http://www.lifenews.com/2015/06/12/shocking-report-shows-thousands-of-patients-being-euthanized-by-doctors-without-consent/ ; 13 July 2015, http://www.pncius.org/ ]