THE HAGUE: A Dutch court sentenced a man to prison on Tuesday for selling “suicide kits” which prosecutors said led to the deaths of at least 10 people.

The defendant was accused of providing 1,600 packages of a deadly drug cocktail since 2018, in a case the court noted was the first of its kind in the Netherlands.

Although euthanasia is legal in the Netherlands, it can only be provided only under strict supervision of a doctor.

The man, identified only as 30-year-old Alex S., sold the so-called “Potion X” kits online and then shipped them to users.

“The accused treated the lives of others very lightly and damaged the value of human life in general,” judges at the Den Bosch District Court said.

“In addition, he thereby undermined the Euthanasia practice applicable in the Netherlands, which is designed with many due care requirements,” the judges added.

The packages contained two or three capsules, a “deadly dosage” for which there was no antidote, which the suspect bought outside of the Netherlands, the judges said.

It also contained an antiemetic, a drug used to stop nausea. Not all of those who took the drug died a pleasant death either, the judges added.

Relatives during the criminal case for example “described distress and panic, leading to a gruesome death,” the judges said.

The court added that it was concerned about the whereabouts of the packages that Alex S. sent out over the years, which he said was done to “help people”.

“The number of suicide kits provided by him makes it clear that (the number of deaths) can potentially increase by a factor of 160,” the judges said.

“It is the first time that someone in the Netherlands has been prosecuted for supplying suicide drugs on a large scale,” they added.

The Netherlands and its neighbour Belgium became the first countries in the world in 2002 to legalise active euthanasia, whereby doctors administer lethal doses of drugs to patients suffering from an uncurable condition.

The Dutch law said the patient must have “unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement” and must have requested to die in a way that is “voluntary, well considered and with full conviction”.

Doctors too needed to adhere to a strict set of check and balances before being allowed to carry out euthanasia, including a second independent opinion.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2023