Doctors in The Netherlands ‘would help’ patients die

One in three Dutch doctors would be prepared to help someone with advanced dementia die, a study has found.

The Netherlands is one of four European countries where euthanasia is legal under certain circumstances, but the majority of requests from patients who want to end their lives are from those with cancer (79%), followed by another physical disease (19%), the report published in the Journal of Medical Ethics said.

Researchers carried out a survey of Dutch GPs, elderly care physicians and clinical specialists and found 40% would conceive of assisting someone with early-stage dementia to die, while 29%-33% said they would help a patient with advanced dementia.