Year: 2003 Source: BMJ, v.327, no.7408, (26 July 2003), p.189-193 SIEC No: 20030854

This study assessed how euthanasia in terminally ill cancer patients affects the grief response of bereaved family & friends. The researchers compared the bereavement of family & friends of cancer patients who died by suicide & those who died by natural causes in Utrecht, Netherlands from 1992 to 1999. The bereaved family & friends of cancer patients who died by euthanasia coped better with respect to grief symptoms & post-traumatic stress reactions than the bereaved of comparable cancer patients who died a natural death. (24 refs) (SC)