While doctors in the US worry about a shortage of flu vaccines in next winter, Belgian doctors are fretting about a shortage of a different drug ? Pentothal, the lethal concoction used in Belgium’s legal euthanasia cases. Because US pharmaceutical giant Abbott passed the production of the drug to its spin-off company Hospira, there have been some bureaucratic delays. Now it appears that it could be three months before supplies are restored. On average there are about 30 registered euthanasia deaths in Belgium every month, all using Pentothal. According to Expatica News, another 30 are unregistered. “That means,” says Expatica, “that up to 180 people who wish to die a dignified death in coming months could denied the chance, unless normal Pentothal supplies can be restored or the drug is supplied from abroad.”

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Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

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