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A dementia patient reportedly fought back as a doctor tried to euthanase her.

The medic had allegedly put a drug in the elderly woman’s coffee to calm her, but she awoke as she was being given a lethal injection.

The patient had previously expressed a wish to be euthanased when “the time was right”.

Yet as her condition deteriorated, a senior doctor at a nursing home felt the patient was suffering intolerably and no longer able to give her plan the go-ahead.

The doctor had to ask the patient’s family to restrain her so she could complete the jab.

The case came to light in a medical report prepared for a coroner in the Netherlands, where euthanasia is legal for people aged over 16 in “unbearable suffering” with no prospect of improvement.

Doctors who perform it must give a report to the local coroner, who then submits it to a regional review committee.

The patient, doctor and area were not identified, though the patient was reportedly over 80.

(Image: Getty)

It was claimed the doctor had not spoken to the patient about what was planned to avoid unnecessary extra distress.

The report also revealed the patient said several times “I don’t want to die” in the days before she was put to death.

The committee concluded though the doctor had acted in good faith, she should have stopped when the patient resisted.

Committee spokesman Jacob Kohnstamm added he was in favour of the case going to court: “Not to punish the doctor, but to get judicial clarity over what powers a doctor has when it comes to the euthanasia of patients suffering from severe dementia.”

The committee’s recommendations are now reportedly being considered by prosecutors and health officials.