Understanding regional variation in euthanasia using geomedical frameworks: a critical ethical reflection

Abstract

Considerable geographical variation in the uptake of euthanasia has been reported: some municipalities in the Netherlands have a 25 times higher euthanasia rate than other municipalities. Current ‘geomedical’ frameworks for interpreting practice variation in health care utilization seem inadequately tailored to understand regional variation in morally controversial procedures such as euthanasia. The aim of this conceptual article is threefold: i) to add relevant medical ethical principles to current frameworks; ii) to provide a four-step ethical-geomedical model for the interpretation of geographical differences in the utilization of health care in general and for ethically controversial treatments in specific; iii) to gain better understanding of the existing geographical variation in the incidence of euthanasia by using this framework in our analysis.