31-5-2006
Due care criteria
Euthanasia and assisted suicide remain criminal offences unless the physician concerned reports his actions to the municipal pathologist and observes the due care criteria laid down in the Act. The pathologist performs an external examination to ascertain how the patient died, and what substances were used to terminate life. He then sends all the compulsory documents and any others that may be relevant to one of the regional review committees. On the basis of the documents the committee decides whether the physician acted in accordance with the due care criteria.
A doctor who ends a patient’s life must:
- be satisfied that the patient’s request is voluntary and well-considered;
- be satisfied that the patient’s suffering is unbearable and that there is no prospect of improvement;
- inform the patient of his or her situation and further prognosis;
- discuss the situation with the patient and come to the joint conclusion that there is no other reasonable solution;
- consult at least one other physician with no connection to the case, who must then see the patient and state in writing that the attending physician has satisfied the due care criteria listed in the four points above;
- exercise due medical care and attention in terminating the patient’s life or assisting in his/her suicide.
The Act does not specify how these criteria should be fulfilled in practice. The interpretation given to them over the years by the medical profession and in case law is decisive. The main point is ‘whether the doctor acted according to medical opinion based on scientific research and the standards applied in medical ethics’.
