RWABIHAMA Jean Paul
University of Paris, France
Title: Rights of elderly patients at the end of life: the French experience
Biography
Biography: RWABIHAMA Jean Paul
Abstract
The management of terminally ill patients has been improved by the accessibility of palliative care since 1999 in France. The relatives or loved ones were therefore allowed to assist the dying patient until the end. The Kouchner law adopted in 2002 has established the informed consent process but the most important regulation is the Leonetti law. This law concerning the rights of patients at the end of life, permits withholding and withdrawing of treatment for patient at the terminal phase with some limitations such as few highly publicized individual situations. During the past 5 years, the debate about legalization of euthanasia and physician assisted suicide came up to public through media in France. Several national institutions expressed their opinions and official assessments of the Leonetti law revealed a misunderstanding of its spirit among healthcare providers. French public was also unfamiliar of this law published almost 10 years ago. According to the recent Parliament reports, the legislator plans to strengthen this law and then advance directives will become binding in France. This project raises several ethical issues among healthcare providers, such as burnout, especially for those who working in palliative care setting, hospice and long term care department. As it is well recognized, the culture of palliative care is not rather implemented in France, death is still a society’s final taboo and continuing medical education has an important role in extending palliative care in order to improve quality care at the end of life for elderly.