UK: atteint d’une maladie dégénérative, il ne veut pas être euthanasié.

Un homme de 43 ans atteint d’une maladie dégénarative du cerveau, veut s’assurer qu’aucun médecin n’aura le droit de mettre fin à sa vie, même lorsqu’il aura perdu toute capacité personnelle. Il cherche à savoir comment il peut être légalement protégé et ne pas dépendre de l’avis d’un médecin qui jugerait que sa qualité de vie ne vaut plus la peine de le maintenir en vie et aussi d’arrêter de le nourrir et de l’hydrater.

A man with a degenerative brain condition has mounted a legal challenge to keep doctors from withdrawing his food and water when he is no longer mentally competent. Leslie Burke, 43, has cerebellar ataxia, and fears that when he can no longer make decisions on his own, doctors will decide that his quality of life is so poor that he should no longer be kept alive.

According to the government solicitor in charge of looking after the interests of mentally incompetent adults, "in the extreme cases of PVS (permanent vegetative state) you need to go to court. And yet if you're comatose and unaware for other reasons there is no legal authority to say doctors must go to court." Mr Burke's own solicitor, Paul Conrathe, says that "we are concerned that Mr Burke's right to life under the European Convention on Human Rights could be violated without the protection of due legal process." ~ Guardian, Dec 24

www.australasianbioethics.org 20040104