Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by nradov 296 days ago
Several people in the Netherlands have died through MAID who had only psychiatric conditions with no serious physical problems. And these were not people mired in poverty and addiction who were failed by society. We can argue the merits of particular cases but many people would consider that an abuse.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/may/16/dutc...

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/...

1 comments

Why is a psychiatric problem less "deserving" of MAID than a physical problem?
It's not a matter of "deserving" but rather the greater potential for abuse. Most psychiatric conditions have no objective signs and so diagnosis depends largely on observed symptoms, which are often patient reported. Most of those psychiatric conditions can be treated to an extent, or patients can learn to manage them: they aren't comparable to something like untreatable stage-4 cancer.