In the Netherlands, if the dying patient takes the deadly mixture himself it is called assisted suicide; if the physician gives the medicines by injection it is called euthanasia.
It makes a difference for the physician. The responsibility is openly and clearly the decision of the patient if the patient takes the medicines himself. But the statistics tell the tale:
In 2008 the Dutch controlling committees received 2331 declarations, of which 2146 were cases of euthanasia, 152 cases of assisted suicide and 33 cases of a combination of the two.
