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Practitioner administration by a doctor is permitted only if the patient "has lost the physical capacity to self-administer or digest" the medication (section 53, VAD Act). The legislation also does not allow a doctor to assist a patient to die who has unsuccessfully attempted self-administration; for example, when a patient vomits the medication. In the Netherlands, while both euthanasia (practitioner-assisted) and assisted suicide (self-administration) is permitted, the incidence of self-administration is very low. Relatives' perspective on the terminally ill patients who died after euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide: a retrospective cross-sectional interview study in the Netherlands. [Extracted from the article]