In the Netherlands, more than 85% of doctors say they would consider helping a patient die, with 1 in 3 saying they would consider it if a patient were suffering from early dementia or mental illness. This is according to a new study that surveyed almost 1,500 Dutch doctors on their attitudes toward euthanasia and physician-assisted dying.
For their study, the researchers, led by Dr. Eva Elizabeth Bolt of the VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, set out to determine what doctors in the Netherlands thought about euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide, and under what circumstances they would engage in either practice. The team surveyed 2,269 Dutch general practitioners, elderly care physicians and clinical specialists.
The doctors were asked whether they had ever helped a patient to die and for what reasons: cancer, another form of severe physical illness, mental illness, early or advanced dementia, or tired of living with or without severe physical illness. Doctors who had not helped a patient to die were asked if they would consider it and under what circumstances they would do so.
Of the 1,456 doctors who completed the survey, 86% said they would consider helping a patient to die, and 60% of respondents said they had helped a patient to die, with almost half of these reporting that they had done so within the past 12 months. One or more patient requests for euthanasia or physician-assisted dying had been received by 3 in every 4 doctors surveyed. For general practitioners alone, 9 in 10 said they had received such requests.
The team found that doctors' attitudes toward euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide varied by patient condition. Around 85% would consider helping a patient die if they had cancer or another physical disease. In addition, they found that 34% of doctors would help a patient with a mental illness die, while 4 in 10 said they would help a patient with early stage dementia to die. Interestingly, if a patient was in the late stages of dementia, only 1 in 3 doctors said they would help them die, even if the patient held an advance written directive for euthanasia. Around 1 in 4 doctors said they would help a patient with a severe medical condition die if they were tired of living, but in the absence of a severe medical condition, less than 1 in 5 said they would help the patient die.
More than half of the doctors said they had helped a patient with cancer die, while a third said they had helped a patient with another severe physical disease to die. Only 7% said they had helped a patient die in the absence of cancer or another severe physical condition.
Based on their findings, the researchers say it is clear that the cause of suffering in a patient is a "decisive factor" for doctors when it comes to patient requests for euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide.
[link url="http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/289546.php"]Full Medical News Today report[/link]
[link url="http://jme.bmj.com/content/early/2015/01/30/medethics-2014-102150.abstract?sid=664301fe-12e8-4a28-a7da-ebc734eb55b6"]Journal of Medical Ethics abstract[/link]