More and more people, especially the very old, are interested in VSED (fasting for death), a method to end one's own life independently. What does this mean for relatives, doctors, and carers? Is the fast to death an uncomfortable or a coherent experience?
A new short book, Sterbefasten: Fallbeispiele zur Diskussion über den Freiwilligen Verzicht auf Nahrung und Flüssigkeitlets, presents the diversity of experiences from 21 case histories. These are supplemented by several contributions to the discussion.
The book makes an important contribution to the current debate on terminal care and premature death and provides comprehensive information on the subject of fasting for the dying and voluntary renouncement of food and liquids for nurses, doctors, psychologists and people who deal with the topic or who have asked for assistance.
For more VSED case studies:
- Tim Quill, Paul Menzel, Judy Schwarz, and I collect eight original case studies in our Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking A Compassionate, Widely Available Option for Hastening Death (Oxford University Press forthcoming 2021).
- I also collect ten more in this special theme issue of Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics.
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