Moscow, Sep 27 (IANS/RIA Novosti): A total of 13 psychiatric patients in The Netherlands were helped to end their life last year, compared to just two in 2010, according to euthanasia monitoring groups.
According to the DutchNews, euthanasia is strictly controlled in The Netherlands. A patient has to be "suffering unbearably" and doctors must be convinced the patient is making an informed choice.
Euthanasia among people in the early stages of dementia also rose last year to 49 cases, double of that in 2010.
Assisted suicide now accounts for about three percent of all deaths in the Netherlands, researchers from four Dutch teaching hospitals and the national statistics office Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) reported earlier this year.