Dutch to prosecute doctor who euthanized woman with dementia

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — Dutch officials say they will prosecute a nursing home doctor for euthanizing an elderly woman with dementia, the first time a doctor has been charged since the Netherlands legalized euthanasia in 2002.

In a statement on Friday, Dutch prosecutors said the doctor “had not acted carefully” and “overstepped a line” when she performed euthanasia. Officials first began probing the case in September, when they found the doctor had drugged the patient’s coffee and then had her held down while delivering the fatal injection.

The doctor said she was fulfilling a written request the patient made for euthanasia years earlier and that since the patient was not competent, nothing the woman said during her euthanasia procedure was relevant.

Dutch prosecutors argued that the written request was “unclear and contradictory.”

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