Andalusia euthanasia law unnecessary, expert warns

Madrid, Spain, Jun 26, 2008 / 14:33 pm

Joaquin Fernandez Crehuet, professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health at the University of Malaga in Spain, warned this week that the euthanasia law promoted by the Andalusian government is unnecessary and that the Dutch experience showed that 20% of the patients who were euthanized died without express consent.

The Andalusian government has announced a new law on euthanasia “with these four objectives: the limiting of therapeutic efforts, the rejection of treatment, palliative sedation and disconnection in case of death. This law is unnecessary because doctors already comply with these objectives,” Fernandez said.

“There are scientific protocols that guide our medical practice,” he said.  “What is necessary is that lawmakers guarantee that in every private or public heath care facility an ethics committee is established to study concrete cases of terminally ill patients.”

The university professor criticized supporters of euthanasia for hiding their objectives as well as their economic motives for backing the practice.  They appeal to “sentiments of compassion” in order to gain support, he said, “but reality shows that many sick and elderly people are eliminated with total scorn for human life.”

“Doctors are trained to cure the sick, not to eliminate human lives,” he said.