Report 2016 euthanasia in Netherlands

Published on : Thematic : End of life / Unclassified Reports and opinions Temps de lecture : 1 min.

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Netherlands 2016 euthanasia deaths increase by another 10%

The Dutch News reported that the number of reported assisted deaths increased by 10% in 2016 with 6091 reported assisted deaths, representing 4% of all deaths in the Netherlands up from 5516 reported assisted deaths in 2015. There were 5875 euthanasia deaths and 216 assisted suicide deaths.

Since 2006, in the Netherlands, there has been a 317% increase in assisted deaths.
There were increases in euthanasia deaths based on dementia or psychiatric reasons. There were 141 people who died by euthanasia based on dementia in 2016, up from 109 in 2015. There were 60 people who died by euthanasia for psychiatric reasons in 2016, up from 56 in 2015. There were also 244 people who died by euthanasia based on "advanced age."

In 2016, there were 10 cases referred by a Regional Euthanasia Control and Evaluation Commission for investigation.

Every five years the Netherlands conducts a major study on euthanasia. The 2010 study that was published in the Lancet (July 2012) indicated that 23% of all assisted deaths were unreported in the Netherlands. If this trend continued, that may have been 1400 unreported assisted deaths in 2016.

See complete Report in French Here