A van der Heide - Euthanasia

Con

Agnes van der Heide, MD, PhD, Senior Researcher in the Department of Public Health at Erasmus University, in a May 10, 2007 New England Journal of Medicine: article titled "End-of-Life Practices in the Netherlands under the Euthanasia Act," stated:

“In 2005, of all deaths in the Netherlands, 1.7% were the result of euthanasia and 0.1% were the result of physician-assisted suicide. These percentages were significantly lower than those in 2001, when 2.6% of all deaths resulted from euthanasia and 0.2% from assisted suicide..

Conclusions: The Dutch Euthanasia Act was followed by a modest decrease in the rates of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide. The decrease may have resulted from the increased application of other end-of-life care interventions, such as palliative sedation.”
May 10, 2007