Ten per cent rise reported in euthanasia cases in Netherlands

May 29, 2009, 13:01 GMT

Amsterdam - The number of reported cases of euthanasia in the Netherlands rose some 10 per cent last year to 2,331, from 2,120 in 2007, Dutch euthanasia monitoring officials reported Friday.

Jan Suyver, chairman of the supervisory committee in charge of monitoring whether doctors are in compliance with euthanasia laws, told the German Press Agency dpa he is expecting a rise of 20 per cent in reported cases for 2009.

'Five months into 2009, the rise in reported cases is double that of last year's,' he said.

In 2001, the Netherlands became the first country in the world to legalize euthanasia.

Suyver said the reported increase 'demonstrates the success' of the Dutch euthanasia legislation.

In its 2008 report, the committee referred to a study it had commissioned investigating the origin of the ongoing rise of reported cases.

Social health care researcher Agnes van der Heide, who said there has been an increase in reported euthanasia cases since 2003, found it was probably related to a drop in palliative sedation as an alternative form of euthanasia.

Rather than seeking refuge in morphine, which was involved in an estimated 20 per cent of all cases in 2005, doctors were now increasingly preferring euthanasia drugs.

Of last year's euthanasia numbers, in 1,893 cases the patient had suffered from cancer, followed by nerve system disorders (117), heart and vascular diseases (62), miscellaneous diseases (145) or a combination of diseases (114).

Two of the reported cases were from patients with severe psychiatric disorders. The committee said that the doctors acted according to the law in both cases.

Ten cases did not meet the legal requirements and were referred to the public prosecutor and the health care inspector.

In the vast majority of cases (1,851), euthanasia took place at home. In most cases (2,083) the family physician was the one who performed and reported the euthanasia.

In 152 cases, a specialist performed the procedure, and in five cases it was a resident training to be a specialist.