At that point, the patient said, given her worsening condition, she favoured euthanasia – which is legal in the Netherlands in tightly controlled circumstances. In this particular case, however, the story became public, outrage begat outrage, and Arends was charged not with malpractice but with murder. Formal censureThe Dutch medical board considered the case and gave Arends a formal censure. Only when the case reached the high court did critical thinking kick in and the tables turn in Arends’s favour. As Covid-19 teaches us every day, patients’ lives matter – and patients’ deaths matter every bit as much.

Source: The Irish Times June 22, 2020 18:01 UTC