That’s the title of an article in the International Business Times. The article goes on to say:
Euthanasia tourists are flocking to Brussels to get a lethal dose….
In 2015, a whopping 2,023 people were medically killed in Belgium. The number has more than doubled in five years. According to Olivier Vermylen, an emergency doctor at Brugmann University hospital, seven out of 15 euthanasia cases involved French people.
“It’s a phenomenon that did not exist five or six years ago. Nowadays I get phone calls about French people who arrive in the emergency room announcing that they want euthanasia,” Vermylen told Belgium’s Sudpresse newspaper, reports The Times….
One of the primary reasons why people choose to get euthanized in Belgium is the cost.
Euthanasia in Switzerland costs €4,000 (AU$5,935), writes The Australian. However, euthanasia in Belgium is usually free as the treatment is covered by the European Union’s health insurance card. The bills are sent to French healthcare providers….
Euthanasia was made legal in Belgium on May 28, 2002. In 2013, the law was extended to allow children to be euthanized.
Tyler Cowan provides a link to the article at the MarginalRevolution blog and draws our attention to a quote from a Belgian doctor, Michele Morret-Rauis, described by Cowan as, “A person who needs that extra dose of media training”:
Of course, Belgium is not here to euthanize half the planet. I can understand those who say that France should look after its own patients. But this is easy to say in the office. When you have a patient who is suffering in front of you, you don’t think of that. You help – whether they are French or not.
