title: Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide of Patients With Psychiatric Disorders in the Netherlands 2011 to 2014.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Euthanasia or assisted suicide (EAS) of psychiatric patients is increasing in some jurisdictions such as Belgium and the Netherlands. However, little is known about the practice, and it remains controversial.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To describe the characteristics of patients receiving EAS for psychiatric conditions and how the practice is regulated in the Netherlands.
  
  
  METHODS
  This investigation reviewed psychiatric EAS case summaries made available online by the Dutch regional euthanasia review committees as of June 1, 2015. Two senior psychiatrists used directed content analysis to review and code the reports. In total, 66 cases from 2011 to 2014 were reviewed.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical and social characteristics of patients, physician review process of the patients' requests, and the euthanasia review committees' assessments of the physicians' actions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 66 cases reviewed, 70% (n = 46) were women. In total, 32% (n = 21) were 70 years or older, 44% (n = 29) were 50 to 70 years old, and 24% (n = 16) were 30 to 50 years old. Most had chronic, severe conditions, with histories of attempted suicides and psychiatric hospitalizations. Most had personality disorders and were described as socially isolated or lonely. Depressive disorders were the primary psychiatric issue in 55% (n = 36) of cases. Other conditions represented were psychotic, posttraumatic stress or anxiety, somatoform, neurocognitive, and eating disorders, as well as prolonged grief and autism. Comorbidities with functional impairments were common. Forty-one percent (n = 27) of physicians performing EAS were psychiatrists. Twenty-seven percent (n = 18) of patients received the procedure from physicians new to them, 14 of whom were physicians from the End-of-Life Clinic, a mobile euthanasia clinic. Consultation with other physicians was extensive, but 11% (n = 7) of cases had no independent psychiatric input, and 24% (n = 16) of cases involved disagreement among consultants. The euthanasia review committees found that one case failed to meet legal due care criteria.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Persons receiving EAS for psychiatric disorders in the Netherlands are mostly women and of diverse ages, with complex and chronic psychiatric, medical, and psychosocial histories. The granting of their EAS requests appears to involve considerable physician judgment, usually involving multiple physicians who do not always agree (sometimes without independent psychiatric input), but the euthanasia review committees generally defer to the judgments of the physicians performing the EAS.
authors: Department of Bioethics, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
authors: Scott Y H
authors: SY
authors: Kim
authors: Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor3CAPHRI School for Public Health and Primary Care, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
authors: Raymond G
authors: RG
authors: De Vries
authors: Department of Psychiatry, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors: John R
authors: JR
authors: Peteet
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003657:Decision Making; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology; D005065:Euthanasia / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D033161:Government Regulation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018447:Medical Futility; D016743:Mental Competency; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D010820:Physicians / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012934:Social Isolation; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D059039:Standard of Care; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology; D017236:Suicide, Assisted / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016312:Treatment Refusal