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Dutch Woman With Alzheimers Euthanized — Even After She Changed Her Mind
The Stream ^ | 2-14-17 | NANCY FLORY

Posted on 02/14/2017 11:29:27 AM PST by markomalley

A 70-year-old Dutch woman sipped her coffee and excitedly made plans with her husband and children to spend the afternoon with them and eat a meal together. The woman suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, but was lucid enough to know her family and make plans for the day. What she didn’t know was that she would not be spending the afternoon with them or eating lunch — her family had already made plans with the doctor to end her life.

The unidentified Alzheimer’s patient had suffered from the disease for four years and wrote a living will, saying she did not want to go into a nursing home and would prefer assisted suicide when she determined the “time was right,” reported the National Catholic Register. However, as of last year, her dementia had progressed to the point that her aging husband could not care for her. When she entered the nursing home she told the staff that she wished to die but “not right now.”

The day that she was euthanized she was making plans to spend time with her family. She didn’t know that her husband had decided with the doctor that “she was ready to die.” The sedative the family put in her coffee didn’t work, so the doctor came into the room to administer the first of three fatal drugs. She aroused from her sleepy state and fought the doctor who was attempting to give her the shot. It was then that the patient’s family was asked to hold her down for the procedure. According to a report from the Dutch Regional Review Committee, the doctor did not stop because she did not think that it was “appropriate to halt termination of life,” as the topic of assisted suicide had been discussed for a while and the doctor didn’t want the patient to “get cold feet.”

While the patient frequently talked with nursing home staff about wanting to die, when asked by the doctor if she wanted to die, she repeatedly replied, “Not now … it’s not so bad!”

However, the report states that the woman had “no clear advanced directive,” and had “never verbally requested euthanasia.” But it wouldn’t have mattered. According to the report, “Even if the patient had said, ‘I don’t want to die,’ the doctor would have continued the termination.”

The committee determined that the doctor had “not acted in accordance with the due care criteria” within the Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide Act of 2002. The committee also found that the doctor “crossed a line” by administering the drug in the patient’s coffee without her knowledge and failing to suspend the euthanasia when the patient reacted negatively to the administration of the drugs. When euthanizing patients, said the committee, doctors must avoid coercion as well as the appearance of coercion at all costs. Even so, the doctor was not sanctioned.

Alistair Thompson of Care Not Killing, a U.K. group opposing assisted suicides and euthanasia, said that once euthanasia is made lawful for terminally ill patients, it’s only a matter of time before it affects the weak and vulnerable. The law says “We care so little for people, that we allow it. ‘You’re old; your life must be over.’ ‘You’re disabled; your life must not be worth living.’ … This is another good example of why the law has to be clear: that we do not kill people who are ill or disabled.”


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Government; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: deathpanels; palinwasright
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And this is the problem with "right to die" -- eventually it turns into obligation to die... Whether you like it or not.
1 posted on 02/14/2017 11:29:27 AM PST by markomalley
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To: markomalley

If the liberals keep this sh*t up, we’re going to need “rescue shelters” for the elderly.


2 posted on 02/14/2017 11:33:27 AM PST by FlingWingFlyer (As long as tyranny exists, the Constitution and Bill of Right will never be "outdated" or "obsolete")
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To: markomalley
It was then that the patient’s family was asked to hold her down for the procedure.

That's pretty chilling. It sounds like a murder to me.

3 posted on 02/14/2017 11:33:35 AM PST by Opinionated Blowhard ("When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.")
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To: markomalley

Remind me again why we saved these people from the Nazis.


4 posted on 02/14/2017 11:35:36 AM PST by Mr Ramsbotham (Laws against sodomy are honored in the breech.)
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To: Opinionated Blowhard

Sounds like all of this may have something to do with “life insurance”


5 posted on 02/14/2017 11:35:56 AM PST by Theodore R. (Let's not squander the golden opportunity of 2017.)
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To: Mr Ramsbotham

Yea, I guess if ignored they would have voted in Nazis back then too.


6 posted on 02/14/2017 11:36:34 AM PST by Theodore R. (Let's not squander the golden opportunity of 2017.)
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To: markomalley

“Dead” Man: I don’t want to go on the cart.
Large Man:’ Oh, don’t be such a baby.
Dead Collector: I can’t take him.
“Dead” Man: I feel fine.
Large Man with Dead Body: Oh, do me a favor.
Dead Collector: I can’t.
Large Man: Well, can you hang around for a couple of minutes? He won’t be long.
Dead Collector: I promised I’d be at the Robinsons’. They’ve lost nine today.
Large Man: Well, when’s your next round?
Dead Collector: Thursday.
“Dead” Man: I think I’ll go for a walk.
Large Man: You’re not fooling anyone, you know. Isn’t there anything you could do?”
Dead” Man: I feel happy. I feel happy.[The collecter paces for an idea, then whacks the body with his club, solving the problem]
Large Man: Ah, thank you very much.
Dead Collector: Not at all. See you on Thursday.
Large Man: Right.

I find Monty Python funny. I also find that the Dutch have a bad history of collaboration with Nazi genocide.


7 posted on 02/14/2017 11:37:50 AM PST by ClearCase_guy (Abortion is what slavery was: immoral but not illegal. Not yet.)
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To: Opinionated Blowhard

[ What she didn’t know was that she would not be spending the afternoon with them or eating lunch — her family had already made plans with the doctor to end her life. ]

Wow, thanks guys! /s

Yea, sounds like murder to me as well.


8 posted on 02/14/2017 11:37:55 AM PST by SaveFerris (Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for ... some have unwittingly entertained angels)
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To: markomalley

This sounds like a script for a bad movie. But it was a real-life murder. The doctor, the family members, all committed murder.

But now the family can go on more vacations. And the doctor got her fee. So I guess it’s all good.


9 posted on 02/14/2017 11:38:04 AM PST by Leaning Right (I have already previewed or do not wish to preview this composition.)
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To: markomalley

Gramma got run over by her family...


10 posted on 02/14/2017 11:38:42 AM PST by rjsimmon (The Tree of Liberty Thirsts)
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To: markomalley

Horrifying.


11 posted on 02/14/2017 11:43:18 AM PST by Lorianne (u)
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To: Mr Ramsbotham

The Dutch people overwhelmingly cooperated with the Nazis including turning in their Jews (with some notable exceptions).


12 posted on 02/14/2017 11:44:59 AM PST by Lorianne (u)
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To: Theodore R.

Hmm ... betcha as we speak the insurance policy writers are scripting whole new blocks of text and exclusions so as to deny payout in the event of any type of euthanasia.


13 posted on 02/14/2017 11:45:08 AM PST by George from New England (escaped CT in 2006, now living north of Tampa)
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To: markomalley

I literally averted my eyes and heart from much of this article. I care for my mom with Alzheimer’s. There are times she says “then just shoot me” but it’s a serious demon who would do such a thing to their loved one. She has pleasure every day. She doesn’t give me much, the way she is now, it’s very hard, but I’m just not that selfish. This breaks my heart.


14 posted on 02/14/2017 11:46:35 AM PST by Yaelle
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To: markomalley

bkmk


15 posted on 02/14/2017 11:48:10 AM PST by Sergio (An object at rest cannot be stopped! - The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight)
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To: markomalley

First it was voluntary.
Then it was “voluntary.”
Then it became strongly suggested.
Then the national health ministry refused to pay for treatment.
Then the national health ministry said it would pay for the death drugs.
Then it became compulsory.


16 posted on 02/14/2017 11:50:12 AM PST by I want the USA back (Liberalism is a mental disorder without a cure.)
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To: Yaelle

Peace an God bless to you and your mother.


17 posted on 02/14/2017 11:54:53 AM PST by BBB333 (The power of TRUMP compels you!)
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To: markomalley

I hope at some point this husband, family and doctor have their eyes opened to the truth behind of their choice making. prayers the woman knew Jesus and is with Him now.

many many people are so self focused and I wonder will it take them getting into such a needy dire state for them to finally realize we are put here to help each other, not just for the fun and comfortable stuff.

Did this husband make a vow to love her even in sickness? killing her is not love if she had made it clear as the article indicates she did not think it was time yet to be euthanized nor killed against her will.


18 posted on 02/14/2017 11:56:25 AM PST by b4me (If Jesus came to set us free, why are so many professed Believers still in chains?)
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To: Yaelle
Yaelle, It's hard, I know. My mom had Alzheimer's the last 5 years of her life. Care for her with love as she cared for you when you were defenseless as a little child.
19 posted on 02/14/2017 12:01:46 PM PST by One_American
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To: Yaelle

God bless you for hanging in there.


20 posted on 02/14/2017 12:03:53 PM PST by SaveFerris (Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for ... some have unwittingly entertained angels)
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