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Euthanasia deaths are on the rise in the Netherlands since 2003 when it became the first nation to legalize the practice.

Euthanasia in the Netherlands has increased and, last year, 2,636 Dutch people were killed by doctors. 80% of the cases involved physicians administering lethal drugs and patients returning home to die.

The number of euthanasia cases in Holland rose 10 % from 2007-2008 and numbered 2,331 at that time. That was an increase on the 1,815 reported cases in 2003, the year after the Netherlands became the first nation in the world to legalize the practice.
Critics say the rising numbers are underreport and more people have their lives taken by their physicians - in some cases when they can’t legally consent to killing themselves.

Jan Suyver, chair of the government’s euthanasia monitoring commission, told the London Telegraph that the increase in numbers likely came because the “taboo” was removed on euthanasia over the years since its legalization.

Alex Schadenberg of Canada’s Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, says the number of people dying in the Netherlands is higher because assisted suicide figures are not included. If they are included, another 500 people should be added.
He also noted deaths without explicit consent are missing. He pointed to the 2005 government report showing 550 deaths directly and intentionally caused by the physician but not reported as euthanasia because they lacked consent.

Schadenberg also noted, “As of 2007, approximately 10 % of all deaths in the Netherlands were connected to the practice of terminal sedation. Many of those deaths were caused by dehydration, due to the physician sedating the patient and then withholding hydration until death occurs, which usually takes 10-14 days.”