Life News
An important study was published in the Journal BMC Medical Ethics (March 5)examining nine euthanasia deaths of people with intellectual disabilities in the Netherlands.
The purpose of the study was to examine:
How do physicians and the Dutch regional euthanasia review committees operationalise the EAS due care criteria for patients who have an intellectual disability and/or autism spectrum disorder? What, if any, are the particular difficulties when the EAS due care criteria are applied to these patient groups?
For more information about euthanasia from a disability perspective go to the disability rights group – Not Dead Yet.
According to the 2017 Annual euthanasia report, there were 6585 reported euthanasia deaths in the Netherlands in 2017. and of those, 252 of them were people who died by euthanasia for psychiatric reasons or for dementia.
The study acknowledges the growth in euthanasia for psychiatric reasons in the Netherlands:
There were 2 reported cases in 2010, 42 in 2013, and 60 in 2016. EAS for mental suffering has been fiercely debated. Arguments have focused on the difficulty of assessing the patient’s subjective perception and complaints and on the challenges in assessing the patient’s capacity of judgement, which may be impaired by psychiatric conditions such as severe depression.
There were 83 people who died by euthanasia for mental suffering in 2017.
The study examined 416 Netherlands euthanasia case summaries uncovering 9 cases of a person with an intellectual disability or autism spectrum. These cases are examined in the study.
The nine euthanasia deaths included 6 woman and 3 men of varying ages. Of the 9 deaths by euthanasia, 6 of the people had intellectual disabilities, 2 were identified as Asperger’s syndrome and one was identified as autism spectrum disorder.
Three cases referred to family involvement, the other cases didn’t include family information. One case stated that the person lived in a psychogeriatric unit while another case indicated that the person lived alone, while the other cases didn’t refer to living conditions. Six cases referred to a previous admission to a psychiatric in-patient setting and there were several references to loneliness and social isolation
The initial request was usually made to the GP. In six cases the GP refused, in three of the refusals, the GP did not support euthanasia and the other three cases the physician thought that the case was too complex or that the person did not qualify for euthanasia. In all of the six refusals, the person went to the “End of life Clinic” (euthanasia clinic) for approval.
The purpose of the study was to examine:
How do physicians and the Dutch regional euthanasia review committees operationalise the EAS due care criteria for patients who have an intellectual disability and/or autism spectrum disorder? What, if any, are the particular difficulties when the EAS due care criteria are applied to these patient groups?
For more information about euthanasia from a disability perspective go to the disability rights group – Not Dead Yet.
According to the 2017 Annual euthanasia report, there were 6585 reported euthanasia deaths in the Netherlands in 2017. and of those, 252 of them were people who died by euthanasia for psychiatric reasons or for dementia.
The study acknowledges the growth in euthanasia for psychiatric reasons in the Netherlands:
There were 2 reported cases in 2010, 42 in 2013, and 60 in 2016. EAS for mental suffering has been fiercely debated. Arguments have focused on the difficulty of assessing the patient’s subjective perception and complaints and on the challenges in assessing the patient’s capacity of judgement, which may be impaired by psychiatric conditions such as severe depression.
There were 83 people who died by euthanasia for mental suffering in 2017.
The study examined 416 Netherlands euthanasia case summaries uncovering 9 cases of a person with an intellectual disability or autism spectrum. These cases are examined in the study.
The nine euthanasia deaths included 6 woman and 3 men of varying ages. Of the 9 deaths by euthanasia, 6 of the people had intellectual disabilities, 2 were identified as Asperger’s syndrome and one was identified as autism spectrum disorder.
Three cases referred to family involvement, the other cases didn’t include family information. One case stated that the person lived in a psychogeriatric unit while another case indicated that the person lived alone, while the other cases didn’t refer to living conditions. Six cases referred to a previous admission to a psychiatric in-patient setting and there were several references to loneliness and social isolation
The initial request was usually made to the GP. In six cases the GP refused, in three of the refusals, the GP did not support euthanasia and the other three cases the physician thought that the case was too complex or that the person did not qualify for euthanasia. In all of the six refusals, the person went to the “End of life Clinic” (euthanasia clinic) for approval.
No comments:
Post a Comment