The Political Freakshow

Santorum claims that "forced euthanasia" is an epidemic in the Netherlands

In the first part of the video, Santorum imagines many elderly people in the Netherlands wearing bracelets with the text “don’t euthanize me”, and makes up some statistics about the large amount of seniors being euthanized against their will. This really takes the ‘death panel’ story to the next level, although Santorum doesn’t deserve all the credit, it seems the urban myth about the bracelets can be found on a variety of conspiracy websites. If he ever visits Europe, I really hope he remembers to wear his bracelet well visible.

Here’s a fact check from Dutch Redditor Guustaaf:

“Ok for the record, let’s just check what he is saying:

There is a “do not euthanize” bracelet In the Netherlands, because half the people that are euthanized are euthanized involuntarily

False, no such bracelets exist, and every euthanasia case must start with a request from the patient. Neither the family nor the doctor can initiate the procedure, which has very clear rules:

the patient’s suffering is unbearable with no prospect of improvement

the patient’s request for euthanasia must be voluntary and persist over time (the request cannot be granted when under the influence of others, psychological illness or drugs)

the patient must be fully aware of his/her condition, prospects and options

there must be consultation with at least one other independent doctor who needs to confirm the conditions mentioned above

the death must be carried out in a medically appropriate fashion by the doctor or patient, in which case the doctor must be present

the patient is at least 12 years old (patients between 12 and 16 years of age require the consent of their parents)

More on the wiki.

10% of all deaths are from euthanasia

False. In 2010, 136058 people died in the Netherlands, of which 3136 through (reported) euthanasia. That is 2,3%. Of course not every case will be reported, but I assume most of them will, because when a doctor does not follow the guidelines that have been set in Dutch law for euthanasia (including reporting it to a review committee), it is still illegal, so that would be a huge risk to take for the doctor.

Elderly people in the Netherlands don’t go the hospital, they go to another country, because they’re afraid, because of budget purposes, that they will not come out of that hospital

While it is true that a growing number of people go to Belgian and German hospitals for non-urgent treatments, this is because of the shortage in healthcare professionals in the Netherlands, because of the population ageing, resulting in waiting lists in Dutch hospitals. This is still a fairly small amount, around 2% of operations on Dutch patients is done in foreign hospitals. But it certainly has nothing to do with ‘budget purposes’. The Netherlands is in the top20 for both life expectancy and on the WHO ranking of healthcare systems, well above the US, which I assume would be harder if we were just killing old people left and right.”