DUTCH EUTHANASIA REVISITED

The results of a follow-up study of euthanasia by the Dutch government , five years after the first study, were published on November 26, 199 6, This article provides a detailed review of the two reports comparin g and contrasting the statistics cited therein, The author notes that the ''rules of careful conduct'' proposed by the courts and by the Roy al Dutch Society of Medicine were frequently disregarded, Special topi cs included for the first time in the second study were the notificati on and non-prosecution procedure, euthanasia of newborns and infants, and assisted suicide in psychiatric practice. The authors of the follo w-up report state that it would be desirable to reduce the number of ' 'terminations of life without patients' request,'' but this must be th e common responsibility of the doctor and the patient. They suggest th at the person who does not wish to have his life terminated should dec lare this clearly, in advance, verbally and in writing, preferably in the form of a living will. Involuntary euthanasia was rampant in 1990 and equally rampant in 1995. The author concludes that Dutch electors who practice euthanasia are not on the slippery slope. From the very b eginning, they have been at the bottom.