A Dutch woman in her 80’s was killed by lethal injection in the Netherlands simply because she did not want to live in a nursing home.
The Daily Mail is reporting that a Dutch euthanasia doctor approved the killing of a woman after hearing her complain about the possibility of having to spend the rest of her life in a nursing home since there are many cases of people being neglected in these homes because of their age. If a loved one is ever in a situation like this then you should seek immediate legal assistance from a nursing home neglect attorney. The doctor claimed that the unhappiness of the woman, who was left partially paralyzed by a stroke, constituted ‘unbearable suffering’ which is the legal requirement under the Netherlands’ controversial Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide Act of 2002.
As a result, the woman was put to death in the Levenseindekliniek – Life End Clinic – by lethal injection.
For the first time since physician assisted suicide became legal in the country, the case has been referred for prosecution. The regional review committee, which polices euthanasia in the Netherlands, ruled that the doctor was negligent and referred the case to the Public Prosecution Service who will decide if a crime has been committed.
As more facts emerge in the case, it appears that a family member contacted the euthanasia clinic after receiving the impression that the woman had begun to complain about the nursing home facility. When visited by an independent doctor, she reportedly held her head in her hands and said only two words – “kan niet” (can not). The doctor regarded this as sufficient evidence of the level of despair and unhappiness required to meet the standard of “unbearable suffering” and authorized the killing.
However, the staff of the nursing home said the woman was often friendly, content and quiet.
This is not the first complaint against the Life End Clinic, which was established in the Hague in 2012 to provide euthanasia to people whose doctors oppose it. In April officials claimed that a doctor associated with the clinic had not conducted sufficient interviews with a woman with psychiatric problems before helping her to die.
However, the clinic continues to operate and in the past two years, has aided in the death of 250 people either on-site or via mobile doctors who administer lethal drugs to people in their homes.
The latest case came just months after a Dutch professor named Theo Boer, a member of the review committee, warned UK politicians who are considering a similar law not to legalize assisted suicide. Calling the Dutch experiment “a disaster”, Boer, who was once an advocate of euthanasia, said that after reviewing 4,000 lethal injection deaths that the Dutch were “terribly wrong” to think they could control it.
The statistics prove his case. The number of Dutch deaths by euthanasia has seen an explosive increase since 2007 and is expected to reach a record high of 6,000 this year.
This isn’t the first time the Dutch practice has been in the news. It has recently drawn fire for allowing euthanasia in cases of depression and for allowing children under the age of 12 to be euthanized if certain protocols, such as having parental consent, are followed.
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