Euthanasia Results in the Netherlands

Euthanasia Results in the Netherlands

Remmelink Report 1991

This summary is taken from the Report of the Committee to Investigate Medical Practice Concerning Euthanasia. Medical Decisions about the End of Life. The Hague; Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Welfare, Public Health and Culture. 1991. (popularly known as the Remmelink Report)

THE FACTS

The Remmelink Report– On September 10, 1991, the results of the first, official government study of the practice of Dutch euthanasia were released. The two volume report (1) documents the prevalence of involuntary euthanasia in Holland, as well as the fact that, to a large degree, doctors have taken over end-of-life decision making regarding euthanasia. The data indicate that, despite long-standing, court-approved euthanasia guidelines developed to protect patients, abuse has become an accepted norm. According to the Remmelink Report, in 1990:

2,300 people died as the result of doctors killing them upon request (active, voluntary euthanasia). (2)
400 people died as a result of doctors providing them with the means to kill themselves (physician-assisted suicide). (3)
1,040 people (an average of 3 per day) died from involuntary euthanasia, meaning that doctors actively killed these patients without the patients’ knowledge or consent. (4)
14% of these patients were fully competent. (5)
72% had never given any indication that they would want their lives terminated. (6)
In 8% of the cases, doctors performed involuntary euthanasia despite the fact that they believed alternative options were still possible. (7)

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Medical Decisions About the End of Life, I. Report of the Committee to Study the Medical Practice Concerning Euthanasia. II. The Study for the Committee on Medical Practice Practice Concerning Euthanasia (2 vols.), The Hague, September 19, 1991. Hereafter cited as Report I and Report II, respectively.
Report I, p. 13.
Ibid.
Ibid.,p. 15.
10. Report II, p.49, table 6.4.
Ibid., p.50, table 6.6.
Ibid., table 6.5.

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