Discussion Legal recourses for violation of dnr/right to die?

[TAW122]

In some countries in Europe, where assisted suicide and euthanasia is allowed, I cannot find any law that makes it illegal for doctors to violate DNR's or the patient's right to die (assuming the patient meets the criteria). If anyone is living in those countries (namely Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, etc.) do you guys know if there are such laws and protections for the patients? In other words, when someone be it a family member, a friend, a stranger, or whoever violates the patient's right to die or stops (interferes with) the patient from taking a medical decision to die/other medical decision, does the patient have legal recourse and does the government punish those people?

Also for the US (where assisted suicide and euthanasia is illegal in most states, excluding the ones where euthanasia is legal), are there legal consequences for doctors, medical professionals, and others' who interfere with the patients' medical decisions?

 

[EternalSanction]

DNRs pose complex issues law wise. Doctors are usually obliged to do everything they can to save your life, same goes for any random passerby in an accident etc. Even if you live in a country where DNRs are regarded as legitimate in general, it's not always easy to determine (within seconds or minutes) if your DNR was filed in the correct way (also consider you gotta be in a healthy/accountable state of mind, which is often highly subjective) and therefore legally effective or not.
Especially if you're young & physically healthy this can prove to be a problem; in that case I would not rely on a DNR order.