European human rights court orders care for comatose man in divisive French euthanasia case

PARIS – Europe’s top human rights court has ordered doctors to continue treatment for a man left comatose after a car accident six years ago, in a highly unusual late-night decision hours after a French court ruled that the man had been clear he did not want to be kept in a vegetative state.

Vincent Lambert’s family members disagree on whether to keep him alive artificially, and relatives opposed to withholding treatment successfully appealed to the European Court of Human Rights to intervene. The Strasbourg-based court confirmed Wednesday it had suspended the French decision.

Lambert’s case has drawn nationwide attention amid growing calls to legalize euthanasia. Euthanasia is currently legal in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The European decision also forbids Lambert from being transferred.