Dutch Supreme Court: Doctors can euthanize dementia patients

Published April 24, 2020 9:05pm ET



The Supreme Court of the Netherlands ruled this week that doctors can lawfully euthanize patients with severe dementia as long as the patient signed off on it while legally capable.

The Netherlands’s highest court reaffirmed a practice that was already being carried out on rare occasions by ruling that patients can be euthanized if they issued written directives in the past when they still had full mental faculties, according to the Associated Press.

Already a print subscriber? Click here to login/register your account

Trusted reporting.Unlimited access.

Subscribe for full access to Washington Examiner coverage, expert political analysis, and subscriber-only journalism.

Get Unlimited Access

Already a member? Log in

Cancel anytime.