Negotiating a Good Death: Euthanasia in the Netherlands

by Pool; Robert

• ISBN13: 9780789010810
• ISBN10: 078901081X
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2000-10-16
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Should human beings be allowed to decide when to die? Should doctors be allowed to assist them? During the last ten years there has been much international interest in euthanasia in the Netherlands. In the discussion of euthanasia in the US and the UK, both sides in the debate continually refer to the "Dutch Experience". Negotiating a Good Death: Euthanasia in the Netherlands presents firsthand descriptions of euthanasia in practice in the Netherlands--something that has never been done before. This will provide a deeper understanding of the issues involved for all those interested in end-of-life decisions. It will also help clinicians and other medical professionals better understand end-of-life decision making. Negotiating a Good Death is the first inside account of how decisions about euthanasia are made in real-life situations. Documenting two years of observations at a Dutch hospital, this valuable book describes why patients request euthanasia, the social factors that influence doctors'decisions about granting patients'requests, and how patients and doctors confer over peaceful deaths. Some aspects of this delicate, often hidden, and socially taboo subject that Negotiating a Good Death frankly discusses are: the emotions that lead to a wish for death the ideology of easy death the anthropology of death the role of the researcher the line between symptom alleviation and euthanasia where the responsibility lies conservative options for medical personnel how to speak to relatives of someone who has requested euthanasia euthanasia as a cultural construct Through case studies and examples, Negotiating a Good Death: Euthanasia in the Netherlands will help you understand the issues surrounding euthanasia and how life-ending decisions are made by both doctors and patients.

Table of Contents

Preface. Euthanasia in the Netherlands: Twenty-Five Years of Debate	xi
The Present Study	xv
Acknowledgments	xvii
Death and the Anthropologist: On the Problem of Studying Euthanasia	1	(16)
The End: The Death of David	1	(8)
Emotion and the Anthropology of Death	9	(3)
Participant Observation	12	(2)
Performative Ethnography	14	(3)
Euthanasia According to the Rules	17	(26)
The Endoscopy Room	17	(1)
The Attending Physician	18	(3)
Mrs. Kees	21	(1)
The Son	22	(1)
The Psychologist	23	(2)
The Second Opinion	25	(1)
Dr. Van Ham	26	(1)
The Head Nurse	27	(2)
The Daughter	29	(2)
Euthanasia	31	(1)
The Coroner	32	(1)
The Anesthetist	32	(3)
The Euthanasia Request	35	(2)
The Participants	37	(1)
Did She Really Want to Die?	38	(1)
The Rules of Due Care	39	(2)
On the Role of the Researcher Once More	41	(2)
Where the Responsibility Lies	43	(22)
Mrs. Van Nelle	43	(2)
She Wants Euthanasia, but She is Afraid to Take the Responsibility	45	(4)
Increasing the Morphine	49	(6)
Was She Suffering Unbearably?	55	(1)
Did She Really Want to Die?	56	(3)
Dr. Glas's Intention	59	(3)
Assuming Responsibility	62	(3)
The Line Between Euthanasia and Symptom Alleviation	65	(16)
Mr. Strasser's Denial	65	(2)
The Reversal	67	(2)
Gerrit Knol's Interpretation	69	(3)
Dr. Schuyt's Interpretation	72	(5)
Was It Euthanasia or Just Symptom Alleviation?	77	(4)
Coping with Pressure from the Family	81	(18)
Mrs. Lanser	81	(8)
Mrs. Jonas	89	(5)
The Euthanasia Requests, the Relatives, and the Conservative Option	94	(5)
A Reflexive Intermezzo	99	(16)
Dialogue	99	(1)
The Doctors' Discussion	100	(10)
Themes	110	(5)
Turning Off Mr. Joost's Respirator	115	(20)
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis	115	(1)
The Joost Family	116	(4)
Shifting the Boundary	120	(4)
Turning Off the Respirator	124	(4)
What the Nurses Said, and What They Meant	128	(1)
Doubt, Uncertainty, and Hesitation	129	(6)
When Doctors Refuse a Euthanasia Request	135	(22)
Mr. Oosten's Euthanasia Request	135	(5)
Mr. Oosten's Death	140	(1)
The Nursing Records	140	(4)
The Doctors' Interpretations	144	(4)
When Is Euthanasia Negotiable?	148	(6)
Euthanasia and Alleviation	154	(3)
The Negotiation Process	157	(30)
Prerounds Discussion on the AIDS Ward	157	(1)
Background of the Euthanasia Request	158	(5)
The Request	163	(3)
Bryan Mayflower	166	(5)
The Request Considered	171	(4)
Preparations	175	(4)
The Mystery	179	(1)
Dr. Edelman and the AIDS Patients	180	(4)
Was It the Right Decision?	184	(3)
Unreported Euthanasia	187	(14)
Uncle Max's Story	187	(6)
Increasing the Morphine	193	(2)
Euthanasia	195	(1)
Where Was the Specialist? Dr. Schuyt's Explanation	196	(2)
The Reason Why	198	(3)
The Social Context of Euthanasia	201	(28)
The Patients	202	(2)
The Relatives	204	(3)
The Ideology of Easy Death	207	(3)
Control and the Negotiation of a Good Death	210	(2)
The Doctors	212	(6)
The Nurses	218	(4)
The Culture of the Ward	222	(2)
Language, Discourse, and Communication	224	(5)
What Is Euthanasia?	229	(10)
Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide	230	(2)
Euthanasia and Symptom Alleviation	232	(2)
Euthanasia and the Withdrawal or Nonimplementation of Life-Prolonging Treatment	234	(2)
Euthanasia As Cultural Construct	236	(3)
Appendix: Euthanasia Declaration	239	(2)
Notes	241	(2)
References	243	(2)
Index	245