Pope’s death becomes source of controversy over Vatican pronouncement on end-of-life treatments

The debate over the Vatican’s opposition to euthanasia is being played out here over an especially public and delicate case: the death of Pope John Paul II.  Overthe past week, the Vatican and an Italian doctor have sparred over thedoctor’s accusation that John Paul should have been fitted earlier witha feeding tube. The doctor, Lina Pavanelli, an anesthesiologist, arguedin a magazine article, then again this week in public, that the failureto do so before March 30, 2005, when the Vatican announced that JohnPaul had been fitted with a nasal feeding tube, deprived him ofnecessary care and thus violated church teachings on euthanasia. Hedied, at 84, on April 2 that year.  In an article in themagazine, Micromega, Dr. Pavanelli argued, “When the patient knowinglyrefuses a life-saving therapy, his action together with the remissiveor omissive behavior of doctors, must be considered euthanasia, or moreprecisely, assisted suicide.”  She did not examine the pope or have access to his medical records.  So far, the Vatican has not presented a detailed response, but onWednesday church officials quietly acknowledged that John Paul actuallyhad the tube inserted several days before the March 30 announcement.His doctor, Renato Buzzonetti, told the newspaper La Repubblica lastweek that “his treatment was never interrupted,” though Dr. Pavanellicountered that John Paul should have been fitted with a more efficientabdominal feeding tube.

Source/more:  New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/world/europe/28pope.html