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A Reuters news article that was written by Anthony Boadle and published on March 28 has reported that Dr. Virginia Soares de Souza has been charged with 7 counts of murder and may have killed 300 patients in order to, reportedly, “free up” beds. (Doesn't that sound familier) It has been suggested that de Souza could be one of the world's worst serial killers.

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Several years ago I heard a talk by a Dutch physician who did euthanasia. He referred to the patients who were nearing death, but not dying quickly, as “bed blockers.” I was shocked that he suggested, so plainly, how euthanasia was solving the problem of the “bed blocker”.
 
In case you think that Dr. de Souza is unique, you may remember Dr. Harold Shipman who may have killed around 250 patients in England and was convicted of 15 murders. Then there was Dr. Michael Swango, the American doctor who may have killed 60 patients and more recently there was the Finnish nurse Aino Nykopp-Koski who was convicted of killing 5 patients. 
 
If we examine three recent studies from the Flanders region of Belgium we find that:
  1. 32% of all euthanasia deaths were done without explicit request.
  2. 47% of all euthanasia deaths were not reported as euthanasia.
  3. Nurses are euthanizing their patients, even though the Belgium law limits the act of euthanasia to doctors
The study concerning the role of nurses found that 14 nurses admitted to euthanizing their patient and 2 stated that it was done without the permission of the doctor. It is important to note that the Belgian euthanasia law does not permit nurses to euthanize their patients.
 
Considering the fact that it is only a few doctors who do most of the euthanasia deaths, it is likely that the reason the abuse of the euthanasia exists in Belgium and the Netherlands is because a very few doctors are actually masking their euthanasia practise under the guise of compassion, but in reality it is a cover for their enjoyment of the power that euthanasia gives them over life.
 
Once euthanasia becomes legal, then the only difference between an act of killing a patient and an act of murder is whether or not the patient consented. As you notice from the Belgian stats, euthanasia without explicit consent is common. The fact is that the euthanasia law acts as a cover for doctors who take the law in their own hands. Euthanasia acts as a cover for a serial killer because their act goes from reprehensible to respectable.
 
To learn more about the current practise and abuses of the Belgium and Netherlands Euthanasia law, by ordering the book, by Alex Schadenberg ($20 includes shipping): Exposing Vulnerable People to Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide.