Kasper Raus holds a Master’s Degree in Philosophy from Ghent University (2008). In 2013 he obtained his Ph.D. in Philosophy from Gent University with a dissertation focusing on various ethical issues relating to continuous deep sedation at the end of life. As part of his Ph.D. he was involved in an international qualitative interview study (the UNBIASED study) with physicians, nurses and relatives from Belgium, The Netherlands and the UK. Due to his Ph.D. on continuous sedation, Kasper Raus has expertise within the domain of end of life ethics.
Currently he is focusing on research ethics, and more specifically the ethical aspects of empirical studies involving palliative and/or dying patients. Palliative care at times lacks as solid evidence base. To remedy this, empirical research is essential, but research involving palliative and/or dying patients is ethically contentious. Patients with limited life expectancy might give invalid consent, might overestimate benefits and underestimate risks. Moreover, since they are dying, they are less likely to benefit from participating in research themselves, which could potentially lead to exploitation. Kasper Raus will therefore examine which issues or concerns are particular to research involving palliative and/or dying patients and whether these concerns might invalidate research on this patient population.
A link to his bibliography.