The Need For Better Education About Palliative Sedation

Palliative sedation is distinct from euthanasia because the intent is not to cause death, but to provide palliation until natural death occurs.

Palliative sedation a 'peaceful way to die'

Within 10 minutes of having her first dose of sedative, Col Pieper's terminally-ill mother drifts to sleep.

A medication pump is set up to continuously give her the sedative midazolam to ensure she stays asleep until she dies.

Three and a half days later, she dies peacefully, as she had chosen.

Pieper, a West Coast-based registered nurse, says her mother had originally wanted to be euthanised, but switched her thinking only weeks from death once she learned about palliative sedation.

She could choose because she lived in the Netherlands, one of a few countries in the world to legalise euthanasia. more