Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia in Dutch Patients with Multiple Geriatric Syndromes

Dutch physicians are allowed to carry out requests for physician-assisted suicide (PAS) or euthanasia in patients whose “suffering is unbearable, with no prospect of improvement” including non–terminally ill patients with multiple geriatric syndromes (MGS) such as vision loss, hearing loss, arthritis, and cognitive impairment. In this study, researchers analyzed 53 PAS and euthanasia case summaries (under the category of MGS) that were published on an open-access database. Of these, 41 patients were women, and all were older than 80.

More than half of patients had always perceived themselves to be independent, active, and socially involved. None had life-threatening conditions. Vision impairment, hearing loss, chronic pain, and chronic tired…