Dutch approve euthanasia for a patient with Alzheimer's disease

doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7499.1041-a

BMJ 2005;330:1041 (7 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7499.1041-a

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Dutch approve euthanasia for a patient with Alzheimer's disease

Tony Sheldon

Utrecht

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The Netherlands' first reported case of a doctor complying witha request for assisted suicide from a patient with Alzheimer'sdisease was lawful, a report has said.

The case was reported to the Netherlands' assessment committeesystem, which consists of five regional committees and checkswhether doctors have followed the requirements of the law. Ifmembers of the relevant committee judge that the legal requirementshave been met, they do not forward the case to the public prosecutionservice.

Committee members have defended their decision, maintainingthat approval for the case did not show that the country wason a "slippery slope" towards a general acceptance of euthanasiafor cases of Alzheimer's disease.

The case emerged in the 2004 annual report of the five committeesof doctors, lawyers, and ethicists to whom doctors must reporteuthanasia. The committees judged that four out of 1886 casesof euthanasia and assisted suicide . . . [Full text of this article]

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Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Euthanasia in the Netherlands: Joav Merrick, et al.
bmj.com, 8 May 2005 [Full text]
The country on a slippery slope?: Marta Munzarova, et al.
bmj.com, 12 May 2005 [Full text]