Clinical problems with the performance of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide in the Netherlands

Some doctors in the Netherlands who only intend to help a patient commit suicide end up euthanizing them instead. During physician-assisted suicide, the patient takes a lethal drug, but during euthanasia, the doctor actually administers the drug. Researchers reviewed 114 cases of physician-assisted suicide and 535 cases of euthanasia in the Netherlands. In 21 of the cases of physician-assisted suicide, the patient was unable to complete the act for various reasons. So the doctor decided to administer the medication. These problems were more likely to occur in cases of physician-assisted suicide than in euthanasia cases.