Don't Kill Me, Just Let Me Sleep.

LONDON (Reuters) - Terminally-ill patients in the Netherlands increasingly receive drugs to render them unconscious until death, according to a study that suggests people are substituting deep sedation for legal euthanasia.

"The increased use of continuous deep sedation for patients nearing death in the Netherlands and the limited use of palliative consultation suggests that this practice is increasingly considered as part of a regular medical practice," Judith Rietjens of Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam and colleagues wrote.

While euthanasia is regulated by law and carries strict conditions, deep sedation is considered part of regular medical practice and typically used in the last few weeks in life, Rietjens said.

"The practice of sedating medicines is used in other countries not just the Netherlands," she said. "It is used in the last phase of life for people with symptoms that can't be treated."

Further research is needed to learn why people are turning to sedation and whether factors such as increasing media attention or religious views are playing a role, she said.

"The findings really indicate the increase in continuous deep sedation is partly related to a decrease in euthanasia," she said. "There may be some sort of substitution taking place."


This is a step in the right direction, and gets doctors out of a moral dilemma about violating their Hippocratic Oath. If I ever found myself in unending pain leading to death, I hope some compassionate doctor allows me this courtesy.