Netherlands Euthanasia Statistics: Not Even Telling Half the Story

The latest Dutch euthanasia statistics are in, and the number of cases reported have gone up. From the story:

The number of cases of euthanasia reported by doctors last year rose to 2,120 from 1,923 in 2006, according to official figures published this week, reports ANP news service.

In three cases the regional committees responsible for ensuring the criteria for euthanasia are adhered to, ruled that doctors had not acted in accordance with regulations. The three dossiers have been sent to the justice department and health inspectorate.

Yea, and I’ll bet there will be a strong letter to follow about those three cases. What a travesty.

By the way, these 2120 legalized murders do not include the about 900 “termination without request or consent” non voluntary euthanasia deaths that Dutch studies have reported doctors commit each year with nary a significant legal or professional consequence to the death doctors, and which are not counted as official cases of euthanasia in Dutch death bean counting. And, if the manner of keeping statistics is consistent with previous years, they don’t include assisted suicides, which generally number about 500 per year. And they also don’t include intentional overdosing with pain control with the intent to kill—rather than palliate—which the Dutch Government’s “Remmelink Report” showed” to be above 4,000 in 1990. Nor do they include the increasing numbers of terminal sedations, which I reported earlier are on the rise in the Netherlands and are an abuse of a proper palliative procedure. And, they don’t include eugenic infanticides, which number about 90 per year according to two reports in The Lancet. And while we are on the subject, it doesn’t by definition include the cases not reported, which studies have indicated total about 40 percent or more each year, meaning that there were probably another 1000 or so that the authorities don’t know about.

But other than that, I am sure it is an accurate statistic.