Sweden: Paralysed woman has right to die: health board

Description: [of the article from The Local]

The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) has advised that a 32-year-old woman who is completely paralysed and has been on a respirator since she was six has the right to decide to terminate her treatment. "It is always the individual patient who decides, together with their doctor, over treatment and care. While the board does not make decisions in individual cases, we can describe the legal framework that applies and we have now done so," said Anders Printz in a welfare board statement on Monday.

In a letter to the 32-year-old woman, sent also to other patients who had submitted similar requests, the board concluded that "health care legislation emphasizes respect for patient autonomy and integrity and that care should as much as possible be designed and implemented in consultation with the patient".

The 32-year-old, who was was born with a neurological illness that has led to a continuous deterioration of her condition, was upbeat on Monday after being told of the welfare board's findings. "I am very happy and my soul is at ease," she told the Expressen daily.

[There are other related stories in the Links: section below.]

Links:

To read the full article click on one of these links, both of which go to the same destination. A short link is provided for the convenience of readers. Also, readers may search and browse past and future advisories on the web (see bottom.)

  • http://tinyurl.com/3xzkpbj

  • http://www.thelocal.se/26290/20100426/

    Also see:

  • Sweden Permits Passive Euthanasia [Beverly Hills Courier]
    http://bhcourier.com/article/Local_News/Local_News/Sweden_Permits_Passive_Euthanasia/67150

    The ruling came after the Swedish Society of Medicine asked for a legal clarification, since one law in Sweden allows a patient to decide when to end treatment, while another makes assisted suicide, by turning off a respirator for instance, a punishable offence. "This is a very good decision, very clear and exactly what we were looking for," Eva Nilsson Baagenholm, the head of the medical society, told the TT news agency.

  • Swedish Woman Demands Euthanasia [EuthaNEWSia, Mar. 18, 2010]
    http://www.euthanewsia.ca/archive/2010/03/enid201003181824.4.html

    A letter to the Swedish Social welfare board has rekindled the debate here on mercy killing - or euthanasia - at present banned by Swedish law. The letter has come from a 31-year-old woman who has been tied to a respirator since the age of 6 - growing constantly worse from a neurological disease from birth. Unable to take a single breath on her own or to move, she is asking to be put to sleep and that the machine be shut off so that she can end her life in what describes as in dignity. She wants this to be done now - while she still has full mental capacities and before she gets worse.

Source:

"Paralysed woman has right to die: health board". The Local. Published: 26 Apr 10 12:36 CET. <www.thelocal.se/26290/20100426/>.

Tags:

Tags (or keywords) briefly indicate some major topics of the report.

  • passive euthanasia

  • life support

  • Sweden

ID:

The EuthaNEWSia ID for this advisory is: enid201004261772.
Mailed: Monday, April 26, 2010 14:18:30 -0600
at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Etcetera:

EuthaNEWSia is a free Canadian news advisory service covering end-of-life issues such as right to die, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. EuthaNEWSia is produced by the Right to Die Society of Canada which works toward a good death for all, including open, regulated and equitable access to euthanasia and assisted suicide. The editor is Michael Dawson <editor@euthanewsia.ca>. 

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