Prince Friso - British versus Dutch Law on When It Is Time to Stop Life Support?

Prince Friso (of the Dutch Royal Family) has been in a coma for six months after he was caught in an avalanche while skiing in the Austrian resort of Lech.  The prince had been buried for 25 minutes, followed by a 50-minute CPR to treat his cardiac arrest.  The prince remains at a British hospital.



The six month point is key temporal threshold.  A medical ethics specialist at the University of Rotterdam Erasmus Hospital said: "The six month point is a critical boundary. Up until that point you always hope for signs of improvement."  (Austrian Times)



Accordingly, Netherlands senator and medical ethicist Heleen Dupuis observes an interesting difference between the UK and the Netherlands.  She stated:  "It's questionable whether the prince will ever have a normal life again. . . .  I understand that the chances are extremely small. Had the prince been sent to a Dutch hospital, doctors would probably have turned off the life support systems because there is such a slim possibility that he will ever recover."  (London Evening Standard; The Australian) 

The Netherlands has had a law, since 2002,  that allows doctors to end treatment if a victim’s suffering is deemed to be “interminable and unbearable.”