Only half of Dutch doctors report euthanasia, report says

A study shows that in 2001 just over half of doctors in the Netherlands fulfilled their legal responsibility to report their actions concerning euthanasia.

Researchers for the study, which was commissioned by the Dutch government, admit dissatisfaction with the levels of reporting but deny that there is cause for serious concern. Instead they say that reporting levels have increased steadily since the last report commissioned by the government six years ago and that the overall number of cases of euthanasia has stabilised.

The researchers were able to extrapolate the number of cases of euthanasia each year in the Netherlands from written questionnaires …