The number of requests for euthanasia in the Netherlands has not risen since an act to decriminalise it came into force in 2002. The finding comes in a study by NIVEL, the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, published in the British Journal of General Practice.

The act does not fully legalise euthanasia but enables it to be carried out at a patient’s request provided a number of conditions are met. The legislation has improved communication on euthanasia, the researchers conclude, which in turn has benefited the quality of euthanasia practice. For example, the correct drugs are more likely to be used, and in the right dosages.

There appears to have been little change in the reasons patients give for requesting euthanasia, such as intolerable pain or loss of dignity. The act doesn’t appear to have created a “euthanasia hype”, say the researchers, because of the strict criteria it sets.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   NIVEL recommends that euthanasia should be included in a general practitioner’s training. Nursing homes and hospitals should publish policies on euthanasia so patients are able to take it into consideration when choosing their care provider. The researchers say that one benefit of the 2002 act is that it removes any need for secrecy regarding euthanasia.

“It’s not something any general practitioner enjoys doing,” says NIVEL researcher Gé Donker, himself a family doctor. “It’s always hard to practise euthanasia and it’s emotionally taxing for the doctor. You choose the profession to provide optimal care and euthanasia may be a part of it. A doctor only practises euthanasia out of empathy for the patient who requests it.”
 

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