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Puck
The Texan
Joined: 05 Jan 2004
Posts: 5596
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 Wed Dec 01, 2004 6:49 pm Dutch ponder 'mercy killing' rules |
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Dutch ponder 'mercy killing' rules
(CNN) -- Dutch health officials are considering guidelines doctors could follow for euthanizing terminally ill people "with no free will," including children, the severely mentally retarded and patients in irreversible comas.
Netherlands was the first country to legalize euthanasia -- ending the life of someone suffering from a terminal illness or an incurable condition, with their approval.
In recent years there also have been reports of mercy killings of terminally ill babies, and officials at one hospital say a number have been carried out there.
The Royal Dutch Medical Association (KNMG) has asked the Netherlands Ministry of Health to create an independent board to evaluate euthanasia cases for each category of people "with no free will."
Doctors now follow legal standards regarding euthanasia, or assisted suicide, for patients who are able to make such a decision on their own.
Under the rules established by KNMG and the Dutch courts, the patient's decision must be freely made, well-considered and persistent; there must be unbearable suffering; and the attending physician should consult with a colleague.
There are no official guidelines for ending the lives of those who are unable to make their own decision, such as in the case of a baby, but Groningen Academic Hospital has conducted such procedures under its own, internal guidelines.
Dr. Eduard Verhagen, clinical director of the hospital's pediatric clinic, told NPR in an interview that the babies who had been euthanized were born with incurable conditions that were so serious "(we) felt that the most humane course would be to allow the child to die and even actively assist them with their death."
"They are very rare cases of extreme suffering. In these cases, the diagnosis was extreme spina bifada."
That disorder is marked by incomplete development of the brain, spinal cord and/or their protective coverings.
Because the procedure was not legal, Verhagen said, the hospital preferred that cases be assessed by a committee of experts. The Dutch parliament legalized euthanasia for adults in 2002.
"What we would like to happen here in Holland is that we put the spotlight on these decisions because they need to be extremely secure, and instead of taking these positions in a kind of gray area, we want them to be in the spotlight," the doctor said.
Eric Van Yijlick, project manager for SCEN (Support and Consultation on Euthanasia in the Netherlands), said the Groningen cases involving newborns should be referred to as "life ending without request" rather than euthanasia, because that term indicates the dying party has requested the procedure.
Van Yijlick said that to his knowledge, the killing of newborns is not common -- just a few cases yearly. No official statistics exist on terminally ill children's lives being terminated, he said.
New York Medical Producer Chris Gajilan contributed to this report.
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Ick what a nasty topic to have to make laws about.
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IntrepidIsMe
Pimp Handed
Joined: 14 Jun 2002
Posts: 13057
Location: New York
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| Wed Dec 01, 2004 8:45 pm |
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Why would you do it to children or people who are "severely mentally retarded?" That's kind of sick. If you can't choose for youself if you should die, then someone shouldn't choose for you.
-------signature-------
"Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being."
-Wuthering Heights
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lionhead
Rear Admiral
Joined: 26 May 2004
Posts: 4020
Location: The Delta Quadrant (or not...)
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| Thu Dec 02, 2004 10:53 am |
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Those guidlines are arleady there.
If there is family a doctor must ask them and they MUST agree and he MUSt get a second opinion and the second doctor(who HAS to be a doctor) also MUST agree.
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Never explain comedy or satire or the ironic comment. Those who get it, get it. Those who don't, never will. -Michael Moore
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lionhead
Rear Admiral
Joined: 26 May 2004
Posts: 4020
Location: The Delta Quadrant (or not...)
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| Thu Dec 02, 2004 10:55 am |
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| IntrepidIsMe wrote: | | Why would you do it to children or people who are "severely mentally retarded?" That's kind of sick. If you can't choose for youself if you should die, then someone shouldn't choose for you. |
only when a child is in coma or 'severely mentally retarded' They can do that, not just a child.
Mentally retarded only get 'terminated' when they can't function properly with other people, or are completely disabled (and of course uncureable)
-------signature-------
Never explain comedy or satire or the ironic comment. Those who get it, get it. Those who don't, never will. -Michael Moore
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IntrepidIsMe
Pimp Handed
Joined: 14 Jun 2002
Posts: 13057
Location: New York
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| Thu Dec 02, 2004 6:02 pm |
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I know that they just wouldn't kill children unless they were sick, 
But it doesn't seem right to just decide that someone who's retarded should die, not very fair. As I said, if you can't choose for yourself, then why should someone choose for you?
-------signature-------
"Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being."
-Wuthering Heights
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Puck
The Texan
Joined: 05 Jan 2004
Posts: 5596
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| Thu Dec 02, 2004 6:07 pm |
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It's ok because instead of calling it killing, we use nicer words like "terminating" or "euthanizing" silly  .
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IntrepidIsMe
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Joined: 14 Jun 2002
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| Thu Dec 02, 2004 6:08 pm |
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I should have known!
-------signature-------
"Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being."
-Wuthering Heights
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