The Hague (AFP)
The Dutch court on Wednesday acquitted a doctor accused of killing a patient with Alzheimer's disease in 2016 without having sufficiently secured her consent, an unprecedented case in the Netherlands, which was the first to legalize euthanasia.
The 74-year-old patient initially expressed her desire to be euthanized, but later gave mixed signals about her urge to die, prosecutors said.
"We conclude that all the requirements of the legislation on euthanasia have been met, and therefore the suspect is acquitted of all charges," said Judge Mariette Renckens in The Hague.
"We believe that, given the patient's profound state of dementia, the doctor did not need to verify her desire for euthanasia," she explained.
Applause broke out in the courtroom after reading the verdict. The case, the first of its kind in the Netherlands, which in 2002 became the first country to legalize euthanasia, revived the debate on the right of people with dementia to decide their own fate.
While working in a retirement home at the time, the doctor, whose identity was not disclosed, had added a sedative to the patient's coffee, which had had to be controlled by her family when she started to discuss.
Upon learning that she had Alzheimer's, the lady had written a written statement in which she asked to be euthanized.
The 68-year-old retired doctor was accused of "assuming that the lady still wanted to die without checking with her" after the onset of the Alzheimer's neurodegenerative disorder.
The public prosecutor's office, which did not require any punishment, felt that she should have had a "deeper" discussion with the patient.
"This request for euthanasia was made when the patient was still in possession of all her means," said the judge.
"We will now carefully study the verdict and decide later whether we will appeal or not," responded Sanne van der Harg, the floor spokeswoman.
© 2019 AFP