Background: Euthanasia is performed relatively frequently among AIDS patients.
Objective: To examine the relationship between euthanasia and physician assisted suicide (EAS) and AIDS.
Methods: A descriptive retrospective study in which data was collected from all cases of EAS which were reported to the Public Prosecutor in North Holland between 1984 and 1993.
Results: In 7% of the reported cases of EAS the patient had AIDS, and in most of these cases the physician involved was a general practitioner. Both the percentage of AIDS among the cases of EAS and the percentage of EAS among all deaths due to AIDS increased over the years. In 1992, 23% of all deaths due AIDS were reported as cases of EAS.
Conclusions: It seems, in recent years, that EAS has been performed on at least one out of three AIDS patients, which is a far greater percentage than found among other patients.