Euthanasia doctors-Life Clinic still not prosecuted

The Health Care Inspectorate (IGZ) and the Public Prosecution Service (OM) spoke herein for the first time publicly about the clinic.

These are two cases where the actions of the End of Life Clinic was identified by the review committees as 'sloppy' and on which the Inspectorate and the Public Prosecution had examined.

The first case involved an elderly woman who had been suffering from depression for decades. The End of Life Clinic was reprimanded because she had failed to consult an independent psychiatrist, although the guidelines of the Dutch Association for Psychiatry and the federation KNMG doctors to prescribe indeed.

Precisely because it is difficult for psychiatric patients to determine whether their death wish is sincere, they care about the opinion of an expert. But because the woman had bad experiences with the clinic psychiatrists considered talking to a geriatrician sufficient. The review committee found the specialist for frail elderly is not competent, but the OM and the Inspectorate are not convinced. According to them could get everyone involved together to the belief that the patient really wanted to die. Also, since the End of Life Clinic improvement promised is apart from follow-up steps.

outdated statement
That the doctor indicated to have learned from his mistakes, helped in the second case also to avoid prosecution. In this case, the committee had criticized the euthanasia clinic had granted an incompetent, elderly woman. The doctor went up to her advance directive stating that she would not be included in a nursing home, but he was not convinced that she was suffering unbearably, a requirement for euthanasia. The doctor had repeatedly reported no agony to have seen: in his report and during questioning by the committees. But against the Inspectorate he stated the opposite, and he said that his earlier communication was incomplete. Because he promised improvement, see the OM and the Inspectorate from prosecution.

It is striking that the inspection and OM passing in this case the criticism of the review committees that the woman living will was twenty years old, and was never updated in writing. In a directive to physicians federation KNMG and the ministries of justice and public health in January published, says that may not be such a dated document. Last year put the PPS and the Inspectorate also similar criticism aside. Then it came to euthanasia on a patient who could barely communicate due to Huntington's disease, and its declaration of intention had not been updated in six years.

By: Alwin Chick / Wedding Editorial Photo: Reuters