Advance euthanasia directives: a controversial case and its ethical implications
Open accessAbstract
Authorising euthanasia and assisted suicide with advance euthanasia directives (AEDs) is permitted, yet debated, in the Netherlands. We focus on a recent controversial case in which a Dutch woman with Alzheimer's disease was euthanised based on her AED. A Dutch euthanasia review committee found that the physician performing the euthanasia failed to follow due care requirements for euthanasia and assisted suicide. This case is notable because it is the first case to trigger a criminal investigation since the 2002 Dutch euthanasia law was enacted. Thus far, only brief descriptions of the case have been reported in English language journals and media. We provide a detailed description of the case, review the main challenges of preparing and applying AEDs for persons with dementia and briefly assess the adequacy of the current oversight system governing AEDs.
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Some advance request EAS cases have been widely discussed, and one case led to the first prosecution of a doctor since the 2002 law was enacted.
“Some of these advance request EAS cases have been widely discussed(4, 7–10) and one case led to the first prosecution of a doctor since the 2002 law was enacted (Box).(5)”
From Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide of Persons With Dementia in the Netherlands (2020) · cites this paper as [8]
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Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide of Persons With Dementia in the Netherlands
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Self-citation
- Authors
- Miller, D. G., Dresser, R., & Kim, S. Y. H.
- Affiliations
- National Institutes of Health (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kim, Scott Y H
- Venue
- Journal of Medical Ethics
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 2018-03-03
- Volume
- 45
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 84-89
- ISSN
- 0306-6800 (ISSN-L)
- 1473-4257
- PMC
- PMC6120810
- OpenAlex
- W2790148491
- Cited by
- 141
- References
- 19
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 35 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 39
- FWCI
- 24.08
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Medical Ethics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- NIH Clinical Center
- 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 › Ethics and bioethics in healthcare
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Palliative and Oncologic Care
- Keywords
- euthanasia, assisted suicide, Alzheimer's disease, dementia, criminal investigation, euthanasia legislation
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Alzheimer Disease, Female, Humans, Netherlands, Advance Directives, Suicide, Assisted, Ethics Committees, Clinical, Euthanasia, Active, Voluntary
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