Does palliative sedation produce an ethical resolution to avoid the demand for euthanasia in a Muslim Country ?

Ercan AvciIndian Journal of Palliative Care 2018 24(4):537-544One of the major purposes of palliative sedation is to reduce demand for euthanasia. The present paper analyzes a grievous case which demonstrates the killing of a 23-year-old son by his father due to the son's unbearable pain resulting from metastatic colorectal cancer. The article aimed to elaborate the case to figure out whether palliative sedation can be an alternative to euthanasia in a Muslim country. Nevertheless, the analysis of these two end-of-life issues revealed that the limitation of palliative sedation to an expected lifespan of less than 2 weeks as well as the Islamic view on the importance of protecting consciousness preclude reaching a conclusion that palliative sedation can be an alternative to euthanasia in this particular case. Furthermore, in such cases, the primary problem may be the lack of adequate and appropriate palliative care services, rather than the need for euthanasia or palliative sedation.

Source: Indian Journal of Palliative Care - October 15, 2018 Category: Palliative Care Authors: Ercan Avci Source Type: research