In Italy euthanasia remains a taboo, from time to time being evoked by our politicians as a tool of propaganda rather than on the purpose of open a public debate on the ethical and legal boundaries that circumscribe the practise. Yet even in that bunch of European countries where it has been legalized (Belgium and the Netherlands) or at least decriminalized (Sweden, United Kingdom and Germany) euthanasia continues to fuel controversies, especially concerning the practical circumstances of its employment. Those controversies, however, does not seem to exert any deterrent effect on the public opinion of the abovementioned states, as the latest figures released in August by the Dutch Ministry of Health point out.
In the land of tulips, the first in Europe to legalize euthanasia, documented cases of assisted suicide in 2009 grew by 12% compared 2008, when they had already jumped by 10%. That is to say 2636 deaths per year out of a population of just six million inhabitants
A similar trend is to be observed in Belgium. Brussels legalized the assisted suicide since 2002, giving it the status of a fundamental right of the patient, although on the basis of extremely stringent constraints whose performance is monitored by a special committee. Such constraints do not seem to be enough to harness a steep increase of euthanasia in the “flat country”: according to figures published in the “Journal du Medicine”, in 2009 835 official cases were surveyed in Belgium, four times compared to 2003, the year when the law came into force. Breaking down the overall figure shows that requests for assisted suicide come almost all from the Flemish north, traditionally Catholic, only marginally affecting the most secular Francophone south.
The problem, however, lies not so much in official numbers, as they might appear disproportionate or not, but in any abuses that might conceal. The statistics are not very helpful in determining for example whether the decision to grant euthanasia is taken in all the individual cases in accordance with law. Both in the Netherlands and in Belgium, like in many European countries, associations of physicians are protected and powerful enough to deter further investigation into the legality of the practice. In more than seven years specialists charged in both countries do not reach even the number of ten. To try to see things more clearly a Flemish team of researchers has tried to interrogate nurses through an anonymous questionnaire. The results, if anything, should be taken into account.
Out of 1,235 nurses surveyed by Belgian scholars, 120 have admitted that their last patient treated with assisted suicide did not explicitly ask to die. More significantly, in half cases paramedics administered lethal injection, more often without the presence of a doctor. As regards the Netherlands, a shock report published in 2005 by the Ministry of Health reported for the previous year at least 550 cases of mercy killing carried out without the consent of the patient.
These data may corroborate the concerns expressed last year to the Belgian press by Herman Nys, professor of medical law at the University of Leuven. According to the academician, “the open grave between law and actual practice continues to expand relentlessly”. To what extent is not yet known.
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