There is more to end-of-life practices than euthanasia

January 22, 2013

Bregje Onwuteaka-Philipsen and colleagues (Sept 8, p 908)1 focus mainly on euthanasia in their discussion of trends in end-of-life practices in the Netherlands. However, the sharp rise in prevalence of “intensified alleviation of symptoms” (24·7% in 2005 vs 36·4% in 2010) and “continuous deep sedation” before death (8·2% in 2005 vs 12·3% in 2010), warrants at least as much critical discussion. (The Lancet)