BMJ  2007;334:1075 (26 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39220.590428.DB

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Incidence of euthanasia in the Netherlands falls as that of palliative sedation rises

Tony Sheldon

Utrecht

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

Five years after it was legalised, euthanasia in the Netherlands seems to be declining in favour of palliative sedation, whereby terminally ill patients are kept in a coma while decisions that may shorten their lives are made, such as withdrawal of fluids.

Now the euthanasia lobby and MPs are warning that palliative sedation, which does not involve the same reporting obligations as euthanasia does, must never become a convenient "short cut" to ending the life of someone who is dying.

New government sponsored research that evaluated the effect of the 2002 euthanasia law shows that the number of cases of euthanasia fell from 3500 (2.6% of deaths) in 2001 to 2325 (1.7%) in 2005. By contrast the number of cases of palliative sedation rose from 8500 (5.6%) to 9700 (7.1%). The number of requests for euthanasia and assisted suicide fell from 9700 to 8400.

Dutch law requires doctors to report . . . [Full text of this article]


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