Netherlands Euthanasia Study Released

No state in the United States authorizes euthanasia although Oregon does permit physician assisted suicide if certain conditions are satisfied.

In 2001, The Netherlands became the first nation to legalize euthanasia and Belgium followed suit in 2002.

A study of The Netherlands’ experience with euthanasia was released on Monday (August 8, 2005).  Here are some of the key findings:

While more than half the doctors had not received a request, almost 20 percent received more than one. Of those 2,658 requests, 44 percent resulted in euthanasia. In 13 percent of the cases, the request was granted but the patient died before the act; in another 13 percent the patient died before the decision-making process was completed. In 12 percent, the physician refused the request. In another 13 percent, patients changed their minds. In the remaining cases, the decision was still ongoing at the time of the survey, or the doctor did not detail the reason euthanasia was not performed.

See Tara Burghart, Study Examines Euthanasia in Netherlands, AP, Aug. 8, 2005.