TY - JOUR T1 - The ‘French exception’: the right to continuous deep sedation at the end of life JF - Journal of Medical Ethics JO - J Med Ethics SP - 204 LP - 205 DO - 10.1136/medethics-2017-104484 VL - 44 IS - 3 AU - Ruth Horn Y1 - 2018/03/01 UR - http://jme.bmj.com/content/44/3/204.abstract N2 - In 2016, a law came into force in France granting terminally ill patients the right to continuous deep sedation (CDS) until death. This right was proposed as an alternative to euthanasia and presented as the ‘French response’ to problems at the end of life. The law draws a distinction between CDS and euthanasia and other forms of sympton control at the end of life. France is the first country in the world to legislate on CDS . This short report describes the particular context and underlying social values that led to this piece of legislation, and explores its meaning in the wider French context. ER -