RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Medical murder in Belgium and the Netherlands JF Journal of Medical Ethics JO J Med Ethics FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Institute of Medical Ethics SP 621 OP 624 DO 10.1136/medethics-2015-103128 VO 42 IS 9 A1 Lars Johan Materstvedt A1 Morten Magelssen YR 2016 UL http://jme.bmj.com/content/42/9/621.abstract AB This article is a response to Raphael Cohen-Almagor's paper entitled ‘First do no harm: intentionally shortening lives of patients without their explicit request in Belgium’. His paper deals with very important matters of life and death, however its concept usage is in part misleading. For instance, the fact that medical murder takes place both in Belgium and the Netherlands is missed. Cohen-Almagor calls such acts ‘worrying’ and considers them to be ‘abuse’. However, it remains an open question whether or not there can be such a thing as legitimate murder in a medical context. From the combined perspectives of justice and the duty to end unbearable suffering, there might be. Thus, key arguments for euthanasia are also prominent in an argument for medical murder.