Resumo

KEINERT, Ruben Cesar; KEINERT, Tania Margarete Mezzomo  e  DIAS, Daniel da Silva. Death is part of life: the right to dignified death. BIS, Bol. Inst. Saúde (Impr.) [online]. 2010, vol.12, n.3, pp. 260-267. ISSN 1518-1812.

The text shows how a “good death” model was fixed throughout centuries in Occidental society, before Philippe Ariès. This good way of dying was radically modified in XX century, because of the extreme advance in medicine and because of the fact that people are admitted in hospitals to end their lives, in most part. This kind of dying process was perceived as dolorous death and carried to a great movement of reaction. This gave birth to a legislation to guarantee the right to dignified death.

Palavras-chave : Terminal phase; right of the patient; alternative care.