The Hague, The Netherlands, Sep 11, 2019 / 15:29 pm
A Netherlands court acquitted a doctor involved in a controversial euthanasia case who had been accused of breaching the consent requirements for ending a woman's life.
A district court in The Hague issued a decision on Wednesday. Judge Mariette Renckens said the now-retired doctor - whose name was not given - did not need a final consent for the euthanasia of a 74-year-old woman because of the severity of the patient's dementia. The doctor instead relied upon a desire for euthanasia expressed four years earlier.
"We conclude that all requirements of the euthanasia legislation had been met. Therefore the suspect is acquitted of all charges," said Renckens, who presided over the case.
"We believe that given the deeply demented condition of the patient the doctor did not need to verify her wish for euthanasia," she said, according to the Guardian.