The DOI matches its Crossref record; 26 of the 27 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Legal physician-assisted dying in Oregon and the Netherlands: evidence concerning the impact on patients in “vulnerable” groups
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Debates over legalisation of physician-assisted suicide (PAS) or euthanasia often warn of a "slippery slope", predicting abuse of people in vulnerable groups. To assess this concern, the authors examined data from Oregon and the Netherlands, the two principal jurisdictions in which physician-assisted dying is legal and data have been collected over a substantial period. METHODS: The data from Oregon (where PAS, now called death under the Oregon Death with Dignity Act, is legal) comprised all annual and cumulative Department of Human Services reports 1998-2006 and three independent studies; the data from the Netherlands (where both PAS and euthanasia are now legal) comprised all four government-commissioned nationwide studies of end-of-life decision making (1990, 1995, 2001 and 2005) and specialised studies. Evidence of any disproportionate impact on 10 groups of potentially vulnerable patients was sought. RESULTS: Rates of assisted dying in Oregon and in the Netherlands showed no evidence of heightened risk for the elderly, women, the uninsured (inapplicable in the Netherlands, where all are insured), people with low educational status, the poor, the physically disabled or chronically ill, minors, people with psychiatric illnesses including depression, or racial or ethnic minorities, compared with background populations. The only group with a heightened risk was people with AIDS. While extralegal cases were not the focus of this study, none have been uncovered in Oregon; among extralegal cases in the Netherlands, there was no evidence of higher rates in vulnerable groups. CONCLUSIONS: Where assisted dying is already legal, there is no current evidence for the claim that legalised PAS or euthanasia will have disproportionate impact on patients in vulnerable groups. Those who received physician-assisted dying in the jurisdictions studied appeared to enjoy comparative social, economic, educational, professional and other privileges.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The source backs part of the claim, not all of it — or backs it for a different population, condition or comparison.
In the citing paper
“The idea that eligibility criteria in ADE regulations are gradually expanded, or that vulnerable populations are at greater risk is not substantiated by empirical studies [14–16].”
From Trends in assisted dying among patients with psychiatric disorders and dementia in Belgium: A health registry study (2025) · cites this paper as [15]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
A systematic review of physicians' survival predictions in terminally ill cancer patients
Glare, P. A., Virik, K., Jones, M., Hudson, M., Eychmuller, S., Simes, J., & Christakis, N. (2003) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.327.7408.195 · Cited by 1,025
Euthanasia and other medical decisions concerning the end of life
van der Maas, P. J., van Delden, J. J. M., Pijnenborg, L., & Looman, C. W. N. (1991) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/0140-6736(91)91241-l · Cited by 738
van der Maas, P. J., van der Wal, G., Haverkate, I., de Graaff, C. L. M., Kester, J. G. C., Onwuteaka-Philipsen, B. D., van der Heide, A., Bosma, J. M., & Willems, D. L. (1996) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejm199611283352227 · Cited by 633
End-of-Life Practices in the Netherlands under the Euthanasia Act
van der Heide, A., Onwuteaka-Philipsen, B. D., Rurup, M. L., Buiting, H. M., van Delden, J. J. M., Wolf, J. E. H.-D., Janssen, A. G. J. M., Pasman, H. R. W., Rietjens, J. A. C., Prins, C. J. M., et al. (2007) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmsa071143 · Cited by 451
The Groningen Protocol — Euthanasia in Severely Ill Newborns
Verhagen, E., & Sauer, P. J. J. (2005) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejmp058026 · Cited by 397
Physicians' Experiences with the Oregon Death with Dignity Act
Ganzini, L. K., Nelson, H., Schmidt, T. A., Kraemer, D. F., Delorit, M. A., & Lee, M. A. (2000) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejm200002243420806 · Cited by 308
Euthanasia and other end-of-life decisions in the Netherlands in 1990, 1995, and 2001
Onwuteaka-Philipsen, B. D., van der Heide, A., Koper, D., Deerenberg, I. M., Rietjens, J. A. C., Rurup, M. L., Vrakking, A. M., Georges, J., Muller, M. T., van der Wal, G., et al. (2003) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(03)14029-9 · Cited by 286
Physicians' Experiences with the Oregon Death with Dignity Act
(2000) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejm200005183422023 · Cited by 272
Snyder, L., Leffler, C., & for the Ethics and Human Rights Committee, A. C. O. P. (2005) · Annals of Internal Medicine · doi:10.7326/0003-4819-142-7-200504050-00014 · Cited by 219
Euthanasia and Law in the Netherlands
Griffiths, J., Bood, A., & Weyers, H. (1998) · Amsterdam University Press eBooks · doi:10.5117/9789053562758 · Cited by 202
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Christakis N . Death foretold. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 201–283 of 283
Havill, J. H. (2015) · Policy Quarterly · doi:10.26686/pq.v11i3.4548
Diamond, R. E., Khurana, P., & Quill, T. E. (2018) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-31738-0_90-1
Conclusion: Ironic Freedom and Feminist Postliberalism
Baer, J. A. (2013) · Palgrave Macmillan US eBooks · doi:10.1057/9781137031006_7
Assisted Dying Policies in the United States: A Policy Analysis
Falk, K. (2019) · Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) · doi:10.17615/hxms-p610
Response to Open Peer Commentaries on “Physician Aid-in-Dying and Suicide Prevention in Psychiatry”
Kious, B. M., & Battin, M. P. (2019) · The American Journal of Bioethics · doi:10.1080/15265161.2019.1663295
Self-citationInfluencing Suicide Rates among the Elderly
Rosario, A. L. C. (2019) · Comparative Sociology · doi:10.1163/15691330-12341513
Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.005
Measuring Mercy: Protecting Patient Discretion in Terminal Care Under the 14th AmendmentPreprint
Dismukes, K. (2018) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.3118663
Mallie, K. (2019) · Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) · doi:10.17615/8qv9-4z31
How should we think about death and dying?
Sumner, L. W. (2017) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/wentk/9780190490188.003.0001
Sumner, L. W. (2017) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/wentk/9780190490188.003.0008
What is the history of legal physician-assisted death?
Sumner, L. W. (2017) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/wentk/9780190490188.003.0005
What is the case in favor of legalization?
Sumner, L. W. (2017) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/wentk/9780190490188.003.0007
What is the ethical case in favor of physician-assisted death?
Sumner, L. W. (2017) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/wentk/9780190490188.003.0003
What might lie further down the road?
Sumner, L. W. (2017) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/wentk/9780190490188.003.0009
How might legalization be achieved?
Sumner, L. W. (2017) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/wentk/9780190490188.003.0010
What are the options for a legal regime?
Sumner, L. W. (2017) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/wentk/9780190490188.003.0006
What is the ethical case against?
Sumner, L. W. (2017) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/wentk/9780190490188.003.0004
The Declaration of HelsinkiPreprint
Goodyear, M. P., Krlezˇa-Jeriç, K., & Lemmens, T. (2007) · SSRN Electronic Journal
Intended versus Foreseen Life-Shortening
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.006
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.025
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.012
Rethinking Well-being in Biomedical Ethics
Stroop, B. (2016) · URN:NBN Resolver for Germany & Switzerland (German National Library)
Protecting Patients’ Autonomy: Supporting the “Right to Die”
Lyon, N. (2015) · Sound Ideas (University of Puget Sound)
Naz, S., & Rasheed, A. (2022) · Pakistan Postgraduate Medical Journal · doi:10.51642/ppmj.v32i02.430
Atitudes de estudantes de medicina portugueses em relação à eutanásia
Carrapatoso, M. P., & Nunes, R. (2021) · Revista Bioética · doi:10.1590/1983-80422021294510
Holm, S. (2011) · Journal of Medical Ethics · doi:10.1136/jme.2011.042713
Dayola, K. (2018) · doi:10.22215/etd/2018-12874
Nelson, J. M., & Venkat, A. (2015) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9781139941709.021
(2009) · Oncology Issues · doi:10.1080/10463356.2009.11883461
Quelles questions éthiques soulève l’assistance au suicide en fin de vie ?
Aubry, R. (2022) · Bulletin de l Académie Nationale de Médecine · doi:10.1016/j.banm.2022.04.006
L’assistance à mourir : conditions pour une comparaison internationale
Pott, M., & Blouin, S. (2023) · SociologieS · doi:10.4000/sociologies.21145
Blouin, S., Gerson, S. M., & Cavalli, S. (2023) · SociologieS · doi:10.4000/sociologies.20440
Ethical Issues with Physician-assisted Suicide in South Korea
Kim, Y. S. (2022) · Korean Journal of Medical Ethics · doi:10.35301/ksme.2022.25.4.367
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.009
Belgium’s Lack of Effective Control
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.023
Foreword to the Second Edition
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.002
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.003
A Right to Physician-Assisted Suicide by Stopping Eating and Drinking?
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.020
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.030
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.013
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.027
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.029
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.001
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.011
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.010
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.024
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.008
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.022
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.018
Canada’s Euthanasia Legislation
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.028
Assisted Suicide for the Elderly with ‘Completed Lives’
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.021
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.019
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.014
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.031
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.016
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.032
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.004
Keown, J. (2018) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781107337909.015
Assisted Dying Bill [HL]: ignorance within the House?
Burt, C. M. (2024) · Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly · doi:10.53386/nilq.v74i4.1024
The legitimacy of the slippery slope argument against the admissibility of medical aid in dying
Krysa, K., & Pasierski, T. (2023) · Przegląd Prawa Medycznego. · doi:10.70537/jn8g0h42
Requests for Assistance in Dying
Downar, J. (2024) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-31738-0_134-1
Sutton, O., & Kious, B. M. (2024) · AJOB Empirical Bioethics · doi:10.1080/23294515.2024.2433474
Assisted dying legislation: challenges and considerations for community nurses
Andrews, J. (2024) · British Journal of Community Nursing · doi:10.12968/bjcn.2024.0160
Wels, J., & Hamarat, N. (2025) · medRxiv · doi:10.1101/2025.01.09.25320248
Requests for Assistance in Dying
Downar, J. (2024) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-48991-4_134
Dementia and End-of-Life Decisions: Ethical Issues—A Perspective from the Netherlands
Berghmans, R. (2025) · The International Library of Bioethics · doi:10.1007/978-94-024-2274-0_29
Human Rights and Psychiatric Coercion: The Legitimisation Problem for (Social) Psychiatry
Richter, D. (2025) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-98635-2_2
Structural Injustice in Assisted Dying
Croce, Y. D. (2025) · SpringerBriefs in ethics · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-11093-0_3
Discrimination and Assisted Dying
Croce, Y. D. (2025) · SpringerBriefs in ethics · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-11093-0_2 · Cited by 1
Watamura, E., Ioku, T., & Yamamoto, M. (2025) · Death Studies · doi:10.1080/07481187.2025.2604577
Freiwilligkeit bei Anfragen nach Suizidassistenz
Braun, E., Henking, T., Hempeler, C., Schildmann, J., & Gather, J. (2026) · Bundesgesundheitsblatt - Gesundheitsforschung - Gesundheitsschutz · doi:10.1007/s00103-026-04190-1
McIntosh, J. L., & Canetto, S. S. (2026) · Aging & Mental Health · doi:10.1080/13607863.2026.2635537
Perceptions of Assisted Dying Among Scottish Medical Students: Insights from a National Survey
Geddes, D., Knox, J., Obree, D., & Harden, J. (2023) · Asian Journal of Ethics in Health and Medicine · doi:10.51847/a6mjlbv3qh
The Latest Data on Medical Aid in Dying in the United States and What It Tells Us.
Greenberg, K., Teisberg, M., Romano, P., Howe, E. G., Hume, M., Fallon, T., Candilis, P., Nesheim, R., Loon, J. V. V., & Gennaro, K. G. (2026) · Journal of Clinical Ethics · doi:10.1086/740417
Aydoğan, H. C., Arslan, H. G., & Teke, H. Y. (2026) · Healthcare · doi:10.3390/healthcare14111554
Appendix: The Oregon death with dignity act
Sumner, L. W. (2017) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/wentk/9780190490188.005.0011
Sumner, L. W. (2017) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/wentk/9780190490188.003.0012
Sumner, L. W. (2017) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/wentk/9780190490188.002.0004
Dolista, J., Maturkanič, P., Kondrla, P., & Fialová, J. (2026) · Clinical and Preventive Medicine · doi:10.31612/2616-4868.6.2026.21
Cooley, D. (2015) · International library of ethics, law, and the new medicine/The international library of ethics, law, and the new medicine · doi:10.1007/978-94-017-7264-8_8
Metadata
- Authors
- Battin, M. P., van der Heide, A., Ganzini, L., van der Wal, G., & Onwuteaka-Philipsen, B. D.
- Affiliations
- University of Utah (US)
- Oregon Health & Science University (US)
- Amsterdam Public Health (NL)
- Corresponding author
- Battin, Margaret P
- Venue
- Journal of Medical Ethics
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2007-09-28
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 591-597
- ISSN
- 0306-6800 (ISSN-L)
- 1473-4257
- PMC
- PMC2652799
- OpenAlex
- W2138074567
- Cited by
- 283
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 47 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 20 · 2012: 15
- FWCI
- 14.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Medical Ethics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- EUR Research Repository (Erasmus University Rotterdam) (submittedVersion)
- DigitalGeorgetown (Georgetown University Library) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Palliative Care and End-of-Life Issues
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Palliative and Oncologic Care
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Ethics and bioethics in healthcare
- Keywords
- physician-assisted death, physician-assisted suicide, euthanasia, vulnerable populations, vulnerable patients, Oregon Death with Dignity Act, Netherlands, AIDS, end-of-life decisions, slippery slope
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Attitude of Health Personnel, Attitude to Death, Euthanasia, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Netherlands, Oregon, Practice Patterns, Physicians', Physicians, Right to Die, Risk Factors, Socioeconomic Factors, Suicide, Assisted, Terminally Ill, Vulnerable Populations
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
