Dutch Doctors Allowed to Sedate ‘Agitated’ Dementia Patients Before Euthanasia
(The Christian Institute) — Doctors in the Netherlands will be allowed to sedate dementia patients before euthanizing them, if they fear they will resist.
New guidelines say that in cases of severe dementia where the patient has lost the ability to communicate, doctors no longer have to obtain their consent if an “advance directive” stating their wishes has been previously agreed.
The rules now state “it is not necessary for the doctor to agree with the patient the time or manner in which euthanasia will be given,” and that sedation is permissible if a patient becomes “disturbed, agitated or aggressive.”
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