According to a television program in the Netherlands, Altijd Wat Monitor, some pharmacists are refusing to dispense the products used to euthanise patients. This is annoying the physicians at an “end of life clinic” (whose only function is to conduct euthanasia).

Some pharmacists base their refusal on (religious) conviction, but many refuse simply because they disagree with the particular act of euthanasia, especially for people suffering from dementia, or for people who simply expressed they were “tired of living”.

Other pharmacists refuse to fill the prescription because they know neither the physician nor the patient. One pharmacist said “you can’t transform our skills into just being dispensers”.

The Dutch Health minister confirmed that neither physicians nor pharmacists are obliged to participate in euthanasia.

This reminds us somewhat of the European Union that banned the export of lethal injection drugs to the United States, making executions more difficult.