PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Materstvedt, Lars Johan
TI  - Distinction between euthanasia and palliative sedation is clear-cut
AID  - 10.1136/medethics-2019-105457
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - Journal of Medical Ethics
PG  - 55--56
VI  - 46
IP  - 1
4099  - http://jme.bmj.com/content/46/1/55.short
4100  - http://jme.bmj.com/content/46/1/55.full
SO  - J Med Ethics2020 Jan 01; 46
AB  - This article is a response to Thomas David Riisfeldt’s paper entitled ‘Weakening the ethical distinction between euthanasia, palliative opioid use and palliative sedation’. It is shown that as far as euthanasia and palliative sedation are concerned, Riisfeldt has not established that a common ground, or a similarity, between the two is the relief of suffering. Quite the contrary, this is not characteristic of euthanasia, neither by definition nor from a clinical point of view. Hence, the argument hinges on a conceptually and empirically erroneous premise and is accordingly a non-starter.