SINT MAARTEN/THE NETHERLANDS – Prosecutors will not pursue a case against a doctor who performed euthanasia on a 72-year-old woman in a state of semi-consciousness, the public prosecutor announced on Friday.

The case in April 2017 was one of a number referred to the public prosecution for potentially breaking strict rules by the Regional Euthanasia Review Committees, which assesses all cases each year.

She had advanced and incurable cancer, was suffering ‘unbearably’, and two days before the procedure had a cerebral haemorrhage resulting in a coma. Afterwards, she found it difficult to speak and was less aware of her surroundings.

The public prosecution service, however, said it was convinced that the woman’s wish for euthanasia was voluntary, well-considered, and that she could properly communicate her wishes by nodding her head and gesturing with her hands.

‘This meant that a written declaration of intent was not necessary,’ said the service in a news release. She had also expressed her wish for euthanasia several times before the brain haemorrhage, and was clearly in pain and suffering unbearably with no hope of treatment, it concluded.

The RTE had referred on the case (2017-73) saying that the doctor breached its criteria for due care but the public prosecutor has confirmed that the doctor – who has not been named – did ‘act in accordance with care standards’.

Another four criminal investigations are underway into other euthanasia cases, and earlier this year Trouw reported that numbers are apparently falling for the first time since the 2002 euthanasia law – possibly due to increased criminal investigations. (DutchNews)

SINT MAARTEN/THE NETHERLANDS – An increasing number of healthcare workers are leaving their permanent jobs and becoming freelancers because they are fed up with red tape and the pressure of work, the Volkskrant reported on Thursday.

In the first nine months of this year, over 10,000 nurses and other care workers registered themselves as self-employed at chambers of trade – a rise of 20% on last year, the paper said.

This, however, is causing problems for hospitals who are faced with higher wage costs and structural staff shortages, which is putting pressure on remaining staff. Earlier this week it emerged that the Slotervaart hospital in Amsterdam is facing bankruptcy, partly due to rising wage costs.

In specialist units at the hospital, some 50% of the staff were hired in via agencies. The Volkskrant says that the cost of hiring in external hospital staff rose by 17% last year. In the care of the elderly sector, the rise was 16.4%.

The pay rates for independent nurses and care workers has risen up to 12% since last year because there is so much demand, nursing organisations told the paper. Agency costs and value added tax also have to be added to the total bill.

Lex Tabak, joint director of SoloPartners, an agency that represents some 8,500 freelance care workers, told the paper that a ‘silent revolution’ is underway. ‘People are taking control themselves.

They will no longer put up with the way their daily routine has become so far removed from providing good nursing care,’ he said. (DutchNews)

SINT MAARTEN/THE NETHERLANDS – A Dutch scientist has developed a new, non-invasive test to detect tuberculosis in children.

Young children have a hard time coughing up the sputum needed to test for tuberculosis, making the insertion of a tube into the stomach to collect some of the stomach content a necessary but very uncomfortable procedure, broadcaster NOS reports.

The test is so traumatising for small children that it is often carried out not at all or far too late, which can delay treatment unnecessarily.

The new test, developed over three years by researcher Petra de Haas of tuberculosis charity KNCV, only requires a small amount of faeces and enables much faster results than the old test.

Ten million people fall victim to TB every year, and some 1.6 million die from what a preventable disease is. Of those 233,000 are children.

De Haas, whose idea to use faeces instead of sputum was met with criticism because scientists said a multitude of bacteria would make it difficult to isolate the dna of the TB bacterium, was praised for her tenacity by KNVC director Kitty van Weezenbeek.

‘She went ahead regardless of anything or anyone. And look, she did it,’ Van Weezenbeek said. Apart from detecting TB, the test also indicates whether or not the bacterium is resistant to the usual antibiotic used to combat the disease.

‘If that is not the case, the diagnosis is multi-resistant TB, which requires a different treatment,’ NOS quoted Van Weezenbeek as saying. (DutchNews)

SINT MAARTEN/THE NETHERLANDS – A new treatment for people with diabetes type 2 and developed by Dutch doctors, could mean an end to insulin injections for thousands of patients, the AD reported on Wednesday.

Researchers at Amsterdam’s UMC teaching hospital have developed a system to improve patients’ blood sugar levels by using a process known as mucosal resurfacing.

A balloon is inserted via their mouths to the top of their small intestine where it is inflated with hot water which burns away the mucous membrane. A new membrane is formed within one or two weeks which improves the blood sugar level, delaying the need to inject new insulin, or doing away with the need altogether.

So far, 50 patients have undergone trials of the balloon system and the results are ‘promising’, the researchers told the paper. In 90% of the patients, the disease was stable after a year.

They still take medicine but have a lower risk of heart and artery disease, kidney failure, blindness and the loss of feeling in hands and feet, the researchers say. A new international research project involving 100 patients is now being started.

Ultimately, the system could be suitable for 70,000 diabetes patients who get little benefit from pills and have to inject insulin, the paper said.

Around one million people in the Netherlands have diabetes, of whom 700,000 have the type 2 variant of the disease. (DutchNews)