Euthanasia, Palliative Care Work in Unison in Belgium - Forbes.com

While assisted dying is legal there, it's rarely implemented, expert says (HealthDay News) -- Legalizing euthanasia for terminally ill people doesn't lead to reduced use of palliative care, Belgian researchers say. The team from the End-of-Life Care Research Group in Brussels also found that dying patients who received spiritual care in their final three months of life were more likely to choose euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide than those who received little or no spiritual care. The findings suggest that, instead of opposing each other, euthanasia and palliative care complement one another and often work in unison, said study author Lieve Van den Block and colleagues. Read More