A Dutch psychiatrist reportedly faces examination after a profile revealed how he administered lethal injections to patients, including teenagers, battling mental health conditions, igniting an intense debate throughout the Netherlands and Europe.

Dr Menno Oosterhoff is a renowned Dutch psychiatrist specialising in child and adolescent psychiatry. For years, he has assisted his patients not only in addressing their mental health challenges and difficulties, but also in terminating their lives.

The practice is entirely lawful. In 2002, Dutch legislators began permitting doctors to perform medically assisted suicide on their patients who make “voluntary and well considered” requests to end “unbearable” suffering, if there is no “prospect of improvement” and no “reasonable alternative” to dying.

In Oosterhoff’s case, the Express understands, he does not generally treat patients who are physically disabled. However, for some of his patients with a “mentally terminal” diagnosis has rendered them eligible for assisted suicide, an option, it is argued, which terminates prolonged suffering and reduces the likelihood of unassisted suicide.

Advocates of Oosterhoff’s service describe him as a saviour, as he has emerged as the face of psychiatric euthanasia in the Netherlands, according to a profile by The Atlantic.

The psychiatrist has acquired notoriety throughout the country, particularly following a Dutch public television broadcast, “Milou’s Battle Continues,” which recounted the story of a 17 year old girl, Milou Verhoof who approached Oosterhoff to receive euthanasia.

Milou reportedly endured a devastating childhood when her brother fell critically ill aged 11. At 13, the youngster was raped, which caused her to descend into depression, severe self-harm, and post-traumatic stress. Following multiple suicide attempts, and another psychiatrist who delayed her request to die by euthanasia, she approached Oosterhoff so he could assist her in ending her life.

The day she was scheduled to die, on October 2, 2023, Oosterhoff administered the lethal injection in her childhood bedroom.

She had her nails done and even selected an evening gown and high heels to wear in her coffin.

“Girl, have a good trip,” Oosterhoff is reported to have told Milou in front of her parents.

“You’ve been through so much,” he said while speaking at her funeral, according to reports.

Milou’s mother, Mireille Verhoof, is understood to have commended Oosterhoff’s service, maintaining it was the correct decision for the teenager and their family.

“Because of Dr. Oosterhoff’s extremely careful and cautious approach, we as parents trusted that his conclusion-that Milou truly could not go on and that the days were unlivable for her-was the only correct one and confirmed what we as parents had long seen in our child,” Verhoof told The Atlantic in an email.

In the Netherlands, a country with a population of 18 million, the majority of physician-assisted deaths remain linked to terminal physical illnesses, making up approximately 86% of the 9,958 cases reported in 2024. However, there has been a notable increase in euthanasia cases based solely on psychological suffering, rising from 88 in 2020 to 219 in 2024.

Over the last five years, doctors have carried out euthanasia for psychiatric reasons in 675 instances, exceeding the total number of such cases documented in the preceding 18 years combined.

Dr. Oosterhoff’s case follows another in Spain that has caused a stir across Europe.

On Thursday, a 25 year old Spanish woman who became quadriplegic after jumping from a fifth floor following a gang rape was euthanised Thursday after a long battle to end her life.

The deeply religious group Christian Lawyers, which attempted until the final moment to prevent the assisted suicide on behalf of her father, also posted a message on X, “Noelia’s euthanasia has been carried out. We ask for prayers for her soul and her family. May she rest in peace.”

Noelia Castillo Ramos, from Barcelona, passed away from medically assisted suicide on Thursday after years of disagreement with her father over the decision. Earlier in the week, she gave her last interview to Antena 3, during which she provided insight into her heart-wrenching decision.

“I have four days left because on the 26 they will perform euthanasia on me,” Noelia told the local outlet in Spanish, triggering a debate about medically assisted suicide in her home country.

Castillo became paraplegic in 2024, when she sustained a severe spinal cord injury after she jumped from the fifth floor of a building in an attempt to take her own life. Prior to her suicide attempt, she had reportedly been gang raped.

During her remarks, Castillo said she knew she wanted to pursue medically assisted suicide since the incident. Nevertheless, the process to fulfil her wish faced a multitude of legal challenges, filed by her own father, who firmly opposed the decision.

Her father contended that she had a personality disorder. According to court records, the young woman suffered from Borderline Personality Disorder and was “relying on… the Spanish mental healthcare system” before she was sexually assaulted.

The young woman expressed that her father’s resistance to her choice had only added to her distress. She recounted a moment when he told his daughter that “for him, she was already dead.”

Castillo disclosed that not a single family member supported her decision. However, she questioned whether her family’s happiness and comfort should outweigh her own.

“None of my family is in favour of euthanasia. I am a pillar of the family. I leave them suffering. But what about my suffering?” she queried. “The happiness of a father, a mother, or a sister should not be more important than that of a daughter or the life of a daughter,” she asserted, defending her right to decide whether to legally end her own life.