The Dutch association Right to Die (NVVE) is to investigate the feasibility of an assisted suicide clinic for people with a deep desire to end their lives but who fall outside the current euthanasia law, reports Monday's Volkskrant.
The clinic would be located in a hospital or care home and would provide an additional choice to hospices, which specialise in terminal care. The results of the investigation are expected by the end of 2010.
According to NVVE research, 80% of the 204 hospices already offer the possibility of euthanasia. 'A surprising number,' NVVE director Petra de Jong told the Volkskrant, 'but one that misses out patients with dementia or chronic psychiatric problems with a serious wish to die'.
Around 500 of these patients request assisted suicide each year and only eight are helped to die. Dutch News
