[Euthanasia: status report in 2014]

Since 2002, the Belgian legal framework authorizes the practice of euthanasia, under certain conditions. All cases have to be reported to the Assessment and Control Commission (ACC). To date, more than 6000 cases have been reported since 2002. To make a statement about the Belgian experience requires considering different points: data and evaluation from the ACC reports, their analysis, consequences on medical practice, legal and medical perspectives, critics and attacks about the legal framework, the concept of individual and institutional conscience clause. Regarding all these topics, we note that the Belgian experience is more than an example and shows that adequate answers may be provided to patients experiencing intolerable suffering.