Dutch prosecutors drop appeal against euthanasia doctor

Dutch prosecutors said Thursday they will not appeal against the acquittal of a doctor who euthanised a woman with severe dementia but referred the case to the country's highest court for legal clarification.

Earlier this month in a landmark case, judges cleared the 68-year-old doctor of any wrongdoing after prosecutors accused her of failing to properly consult her client before euthanising her.

The landmark case hit the headlines in the Netherlands due to details of how the unnamed woman had to be restrained by her family as she was euthanised, after having been given a sedative in her coffee beforehand.

Prosecutors said the 74-year-old woman suffering from Alzheimers may have changed her mind about dying.

But the judges ruled that the doctor complied with all the strict euthanasia requirements under law in the Netherlands, the first country to legalise the practice in 2002.

Prosecutors said although they disagreed with the court's ruling, they decided not to appeal because it realised "how burdensome the case is for the nursing home doctor."
"The Public Prosecution Service wants clarity on a number of legal questions," prosecutors said, adding "this spares the doctor from facing appeal proceedings." "Her case has thus come to a definitive end."