Assisted suicide lobby group delays launch of suicide drug.

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Reuters reported that the assisted suicide lobby group, Cooperative Last Will has delayed the launch of the lethal suicide drug known as Substance X after a 19-year-old died by lethal drugs:

Cooperative Last Will scrapped its plan for Substance X after prosecutors launched an investigation into the group following the suicide of a 19-year-old woman. Her parents blamed Last Will on the grounds that its announcement made her aware of the existence of the chemicals she used to kill herself. 

The assisted suicide group made headlines when a 19-year-old woman died by assisted suicide with the alleged involvement of this group. According to Reuters:

Prosecutors had been looking at the Final Wish cooperative since September...  

Final Wish made headlines ...when the father of 19-year-old Ximena Knol said on television the group should be shut down after his daughter’s suicide using a powder believed to be the same “Substance X” the association promotes.

The 2017 Netherlands euthanasia report indicated that there were 6585 reported assisted deaths, up 8% from 2016 with 252 of the assisted deaths done for dementia or psychiatric reasons, up by 25% since 2016.

In January 2017, a Netherlands euthanasia review committee decided that the death of a woman with dementia, who died by euthanasia against her will, was done in "good faith." The woman was held down while the doctor lethally injected her. On January 1, 2018, Berna van Baarsen, a euthanasia assessor for 10 years, resigned over the acceptance of euthanasia for dementia in the Netherlands. On January 26, 2018 a 29-year-old woman died by euthanasia for psychiatric reasons.

Reuters reported that the recent furor over the death of 19-year-old Ximena Knol has led to new calls to review the Netherlands euthanasia law.