Vincent Lambert is saved from death by dehydration for now

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director – Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Sign the petition: Protect Vincent Lambert’s Life (Link).

Vincent Lambert

The case of Vincent Lambert has become an emotional roller coaster as one court orders him to be dehydrated to death while another court orders food and water to continue.

Two weeks ago the United Nations Committee on the Rights of People with Disabilities intervened stating that causing Lambert’s death by dehydration contravened his rights as a person with disabilities. Section 25f of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities  requires nations to:

Euro news reported, on May 20, that doctors, at a hospital in Reims France, were deeply sedating Lambert as part of the process to withdraw fluids and food, causing him to die by dehydration, as approved by a court order.

Vincent Lambert with his mother

Later, that day, Euro news reported that the Court of Appeal in Paris ordered that Lambert be fed and hydrated. The decision was in response to the UN Disability Rights Commission appeal. BBC news reported Lambert’s mother as stating:

“They are going to restore nutrition and give him drink. For once I am proud of the courts,” she said.

The Lambert case has been winding through the French and European courts for several years.

Lambert was cognitively disabled from a motorcycle accident in 2008. In 2015, his wife petitioned the court to have treatment and care ceased including food and water. His parents wanted that their son transferred to a rehabilitation center. The legal battle concerning withdrawing water and food has continued.