Netherlands Euthanasia Statistics: Not Even Telling Half the Story
The latest Dutch euthanasia statistics are in, and the number of cases reported have gone up. From the story:
The number of cases of euthanasia reported by doctors last year rose to 2,120 from 1,923 in 2006, according to official figures published this week, reports ANP news service.
In three cases the regional committees responsible for ensuring the criteria for euthanasia are adhered to, ruled that doctors had not acted in accordance with regulations. The three dossiers have been sent to the justice department and health inspectorate.
Yea, and I'll bet there will be a strong letter to follow about those three cases. What a travesty.
By the way, these 2120 legalized murders do not include the about 900 "termination without request or consent" non voluntary euthanasia deaths that Dutch studies have reported doctors commit each year with nary a significant legal or professional consequence to the death doctors, and which are not counted as official cases of euthanasia in Dutch death bean counting. And, if the manner of keeping statistics is consistent with previous years, they don't include assisted suicides, which generally number about 500 per year. And they also don't include intentional overdosing with pain control with the intent to kill--rather than palliate--which the Dutch Government's "Remmelink Report" showed" to be above 4,000 in 1990. Nor do they include the increasing numbers of terminal sedations, which I reported earlier are on the rise in the Netherlands and are an abuse of a proper palliative procedure. And, they don't include eugenic infanticides, which number about 90 per year according to two reports in The Lancet. And while we are on the subject, it doesn't by definition include the cases not reported, which studies have indicated total about 40 percent or more each year, meaning that there were probably another 1000 or so that the authorities don't know about.But other than that, I am sure it is an accurate statistic.
Labels: Dutch Euthanasia. Statistics.
posted by Wesley J. Smith @ 3:53 PM
12 Comments
12 Comments:
Wesley, I'm glad to see somebody publish more realistic stats. To me, it's important that Americans and Canadians wake up, that the Holocaust never ended in 1945.
It ended for the Jews. They went on to get Israel out of it. The Holocaust began with the extermination of Disabled People.
Over sixty years later, let's count up the number of millions of Disabled People. They claimed that just over 400,000 were killed in WWII. With all the unreported Holocaust victims you have just posted about, how many more can be estimated from 1945?
http://groups.msn.com/IronsidesWorldHeadquarters/theamericanapologytoadolfhitler.msnw
Given the low requirements for data reporting and less enforcement of the requirements, I was wondering if there are any statistical deductions on how many euthanasia cases are “law enforcement referrals?” If there was a trial it would be Capital punishment which is forbidden in the Netherlands.
I'm from the Netherlands. Nothing going on here. Why don't you get your facts straight.
Nothing going on: Eugenic infanticide, termination without request or consent, increase in terminal sedations so doctors don't have to be present when they kill their patients, euthanasia for the depressed. If you think that's nothing, your country is in bigger trouble than I thought.
And since I link to my proof, you just have your head in the sand.
Typical.
Half of the so called proof you give are links to your own articles, who on itself are not based on facts. Give me links to actual research, to actual news-items, in stead of to subjective and insinuating articles of you and your friends.
Here, let me give you a few facts:
- Last few weeks there has been a serious discussion in Dutch politics about allowing detection of serious diseases in embryos for artificial insemination, and if so, disposing of the embryos. This was a public debate, out in the open, and nowhere near the backroom politics you seem to think we have here.
- Your claim of termination without request or consent is total nonsense. As said, euthanasia in the Netherlands is allowed, within strict boundaries, such as the patient being totally aware of the request and decision and agreeing on it, a second opinion from another doctor, and every case of euthanasia is judged upon by a independent regional comitty. If the committy judges the doctor did not abide by the rules, he will be prosecuted for murder.
- Euthanasia for the depressed; This falls under the same laws mentioned above, but I think I understand where your mistake lies: 'Depressed' is an often misused term. What is meant here, is people with a 'Major Depressive Disorder', as defined in DSM-IV. In short, people who chronically feel like jumping of a cliff. And if the committy thinks the 2 doctors misjudged, they will be prosecuted for murder.
Here the Dutch law-texts concerning Euthanasia (I'm sure your thorough research has left you the means to translate):
http://www.nvve.nl/nvve2/pagina.asp?pagkey=71892
http://www.st-ab.nl/wetten/0829_Wet_toetsing_levensbeeindiging_op_verzoek_en_hulp_bij_zelfdoding.htm
And a few recent articles about embryo-selection:
http://www.trouw.nl/hetnieuws/nederland/article1009853.ece/CDA_Selectie_embryo_s_mag_ruimer
And a column from someone who opposes embryo-selection:
http://www.hetvrijevolk.com/index.php?pagina=6292
And a blog from one of the leading politicians in the Netherlands about embryo-selection:
http://www.femkehalsema.nl/2008/06/07/rita-en-de-embryos/
And a short news article in English:
http://www.nisnews.nl/public/310508_1.htm
Avlan: Well, you admit most of my premeses about dutch euthanasia--such as killing the mentally ill--you just don't think it is wrong.
I know the guidelines, and they are utterly ignored in many cases. Indeed, read your own Remmelink Report and get back to me on the terminations without request or consent. Read Dancing With Mr. D. by Bert Keizer, a killer/nursing home doctor who admits euthanizing a man even before a lung cancer diagnosis was certain, and didn't talk to him about palliation and prognosis.
Read Seduced by Death by Dr. Herbert Hendin in which Dutch doctors admit that they don't fulloy discuss the matter in the Netherlands so as to not break the social consensus.
Take a look at the Gronningen Protocol and get back to me on the eugenic infanticides. Read the Lancet and find taht 8% of all infants who die in the Netherlands are killed by doctors. Find that 45% of neo natalogists and 31% of pediatricians have killed babies based on their own surveys.
Read the Chabot case from your Supreme Court and see that the good doctor assisted the suicide of a grief stricken woman without even trying to treat her.
Despite studies showing anywhere from 800 to thousands of non voluntary deaths a year, very few doctors have been prosecuted for murder for these matters. One killed a nursing home patient who had not asked to be euthanized and received a two week suspended sentence and the full support of the Dutch medical associations. Ooooh. Tough law enforcement!
The Netherlands is a violator of human rights due to its infanticide and medical murders.
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I'll check your links. As far as I can read, I am not admitting most of your premises, at least not killing the mentally ill - unless you mean assisting people who want to end their life.
Apart from blogging, what are you doing with the cold hard information you gathered that the Netherlands is violating human rights?
Avlan: Read your own last post about the mentally ill: "Euthanasia for the depressed; This falls under the same laws mentioned above, but I think I understand where your mistake lies: 'Depressed' is an often misused term. What is meant here, is people with a 'Major Depressive Disorder', as defined in DSM-IV. In short, people who chronically feel like jumping of a cliff. And if the committy thinks the 2 doctors misjudged, they will be prosecuted for murder."
People with major depressive disorders are mentally ill. You are saying that if this mental illness makes them want to kill themselves that it is okay because they want to kill themselves, thereby proving my point.
Thanks for commenting at SHS.
Yes, put black and white, people with major depressive disorders are mentally ill, so if a doctor actively administers a drug in order to end a patients life, technically you can say a doctor killed a mentally ill person.
My problem is that you use the phrase in general, which makes it look like Dutch doctors are killing all sorts of mentally ill people.
For instance this Chabot case, where you state the doctor assisted the suicide without even trying to treat her. Technically, again, you are right, but there are a lot of nuances, for instance that the act of suicide was committed by the petient herself, where not only the doctor, but also her physician and a close friend were present, who apparently all agreed with the woman's choice to end her life. You also do not mention that this woman had years and years of death wished, already tried suicide once, had lengthy discussions with friends about committing suicide, and that she came in contact with dr. Chabot through the Dutch Association for Voluntary Euthanasia. After a few sessions, Dr Chabot decided to reward the patients request for euthanasia and supplied her the medicine she took herself, as stated before.
After that, the doctor was indicted and indeed got a minor slap on the wrist. I can agree with you that there's room for discussion if this is the right punishment. Nevertheless, all the above circumstances shed a very different light on the case, and I wouldn't shortcut it into 'Doctor assists in killing a mentally ill person'.
The discussion about if someone has the right to end his own life is always a meaningless one. You seem to think it's some kind of sin, I on the other hand think if a person wants to take their own life, it's their right to do so. That doesn't mean I won't try everything possible to talk the idea out of their heads, and that they should try therapy and whatnot, but in the end, it's their decision. In this case, the doctor decided to help her, and that might have been a bad judgment call, but push comes to shove, the woman took her own life.
Avlan: "Yes, put black and white, people with major depressive disorders are mentally ill, so if a doctor actively administers a drug in order to end a patients life, technically you can say a doctor killed a mentally ill person."
Therefore, you believe that someone who simply seriously depressed, not even terminally ill, should die, rather than receiving intensive care and treatment?
Avlan: "You also do not mention that this woman had years and years of death wished, already tried suicide once, had lengthy discussions with friends about committing suicide, and that she came in contact with dr. Chabot through the Dutch Association for Voluntary Euthanasia. "
Dr. Chabot helped a healthy and competent woman die. She wasn't even ill, but extremely depressed over the deaths of her two sons. This, I believe is wrong. Not the fact that she wanted to die, but the fact that Chabot helped her do it. That's like helping someone tie a noose around their neck rather than trying to stop it. The woman was healthy and could have had a chance at happiness. She just needed the proper care.
Take for example, the story of Alison Davis. “I am 50 and was born with severe spina bifida. I am completely dependent on my wheelchair for mobility. I am doubly incontinent and I have the lung condition emphysema, which often makes breathing very difficult. I also have osteoporosis (brittle bones), which has caused my spine to collapse, trapping nerves. This causes extreme pain, which is not always controlled, even with morphine. When the pain is at its worst I cannot move or speak. This can go on for hours, and there is no prospect of relief.”
For over 10 years, she longed for death, and made several serious attempts to kill herself. Fortunately, she had friends that helped her, despite the fact that she was angered with them at the time. She managed to get through her depression and now leads a happy life. If euthanasia had been legal in her country, Davis would already be dead.
“What has changed is not my medical condition, but my outlook on life”- Alison Davis
Read about Alison’s story here: http://www.spuc.org.uk/about/no-less-human/alison
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