Vincent Lambert Case Fuels French Right-To-Die Debate

An emotional right-to-die case is fueling a major debate in France over the issue of death with dignity.  Vincent Lambert is a former psychiatric nurse who became tetraplegic after suffering in a horrible car accident seven years ago.  He is now being kept alive in a vegetative state, and a dispute has broken out between Lambert’s parents who want to keep him alive and his wife who claims her husband would have wanted his feeding tube removed.  This case is bringing attention to a debate that is happening all over the world.  Similar debates are taking place in the United States.  For example, the State of California is currently considering right-to-die legislation.  As the population continues to age this issue is only going to become more prevalent.

See John Lichfield, Vincent Lambert Case: France gripped by ‘right to die’ of tetraplegic former nurse and attempt to ‘kidnap him from his hospital bed,’ The Independent, July 27, 2015.

Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.