Death with dignity and euthanasia: comparative European approaches.

Area of Science:

• Medical Ethics
• Sociology of Medicine
• End-of-Life Care

Background:

• Life expectancy has doubled since 1800, transforming medicine into a fight against death.
• The dying process has become increasingly medicalized, with interventions like organ transplants acting as resuscitation.
• Sociologically, medicine has assumed a role similar to religion, with physicians as authority figures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the paradox of medicalization: prolonged life versus the artificiality of the dying process.
• To examine the societal shift away from social solidarity and compassion in end-of-life care.
• To address the growing desire for reclaiming a dignified and meaningful dying process.

Main Methods:

• Sociological analysis of the medicalization of death.
• Ethical examination of rights-based versus duty-based approaches to end-of-life decisions.
• Review of attitudes towards futile treatment and active euthanasia.

Main Results:

• Medicalization has led to artificially prolonged suffering and alienation of families.
• A tension exists between the desire for a peaceful, dignified death and the current medical system.
• Conflicting ethical frameworks (rights-based vs. duty-based) complicate end-of-life care decisions.

Conclusions:

• There is a societal need to re-appropriate death, ensuring it is peaceful and respects human dignity.
• Navigating end-of-life care requires balancing patient autonomy with physician responsibilities.
• Contradictory attitudes highlight the complexity of ethical decision-making in modern medicine.