Consultation and Discussion with Other Physicians in Cases of Requests for Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide Refused by Family Physicians

Abstract

In the Netherlands, in 1995 approximately 9700 people explicitly requested euthanasia or assisted suicide (EAS), and EAS was performed approximately 3600 times (2.7% of all deaths). The most important reasons for not performing EAS when requested by a patient were that the patient died before EAS was performed, or that the physician refused the request.