Continuous sedation until death in nursing homes in flanders, belgium: Palliative sedation or slow euthanasia?

Background Continuous Sedation until Death (CSD), the removal of consciousness of an incurably ill patient until death, has become a controversial topic of medical-ethical debate. Some describe CSD as ‘palliative sedation’ (PS); a treatment with the aim of relieving suffering, not shortening the patient’s life. Others claim that CSD is frequently misused to perform ‘slow euthanasia’ (SE); the administration of sedation with the intention to hasten death gradually. Given the increasing …