>http://www.patientsrightscouncil.org/site/holland-background/
>
>Notice that 1/3 of the cited references come from Dutch government reports.

"In addition, 8,100 patients died as a result of doctors deliberately giving them overdoses of pain medication, not for the primary purpose of controlling pain, but to hasten the patient’s death. (13) In 61% of these cases (4,941 patients), the intentional overdose was given without the patient’s consent.(14)"

"Right-to-die advocates often argue that euthanasia and assisted suicide are “choice issues.” The Dutch experience clearly indicates that, where voluntary euthanasia and assisted suicide are accepted practice, a significant number of patients end up having no choice at all."

I wonder for how many of those 4941 without patient's consent not the doctor was the deciding person,
but the relatives or caretakers. Might slice/slant the statistic differently -
while not discounting the chance that even some relatives might misrepresent the patients wishes.

regards

thomas