Abstrakt
According to some experts, demands for euthanasia should be understood as a consequence of inadequate access to palliative care. It is therefore suggested that in improving the access to adequate palliative care, no more euthanasia will be requested.
With some overlaps to Belgian and Czech legal regulations, the author critically analysed the Dutch legal provisions on euthanasia and practical experience of access to both euthanasia and palliative care in order to establish the mutual relationship between these two end-of-life treatments. The main aim of the paper is to determine whether palliative care should be considered in all cases as a reasonable alternative to euthanasia and whether euthanasia represents an ultima ratio solution that is/shall be used as a last resort in clinical practice.