People who are faced with unbearable suffering and want to end their lives can be referred by their doctors to special mobile euthanasia teams if necessary, health minister Edith Schippers told MPs on Wednesday.

Earlier this month, the voluntary euthanasia society NVVE said it was considering setting up mobile teams of doctors and nurses who can help people to die in their own homes.
Although the minister said she would prefer it if people are helped to die by their own doctors, there is a place for referral to other specialists if the doctor objects to euthanasia. ‘If the patients thinks it desirable, the doctor can refer him or her to a mobile team or clinic,’ the minister wrote in answer to questions from ChristenUnie MPs.
Parliament is due to discuss the euthanasia laws later on Wednesday.
Dementia
In terms of complicated cases involving psychiatric problems and dementia, ‘extra expertise’ should be brought in, the minister said.
Earlier this year, a 64-year-old woman suffering from severe senile dementia became the first person in the Netherlands to be given euthanasia even though she could no longer express her wish to die.
The woman was a long-time supporter of euthanasia but became unable to make this clear as the disease progressed. Nevertheless, a medical committee approved her right to die.
Second opinion
Euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands under strict conditions. For example, the patient must be ‘suffering unbearably’ and the doctor must be convinced the patient is making an informed choice. The opinion of a second doctor is also required.
The number of reported deaths by euthanasia rose 13% to 2,636 in 2009. Some 80% of people who opt for mercy killing die at home.
The NVVE says only a third of the 10,000 euthanasia requests made every year are actually honoured. This is because the request procedure is complicated and many doctors are not aware of the finer points of the law, the organisation argues.