Feed on
Posts
Comments

Dutch doctors’ group urges wider reasons for euthanasia

Sep 9th, 2011 by

A new position paper just published by the Dutch Physicians Association
(KNMG) says unbearable and lasting suffering should not be the only
criteria physicians consider when a patient requests euthanasia.

The KNMG says the new guidelines will clarify the responsibilities,
possibilities and limitations that physicians have within the
regulations of the 2002 euthanasia law (Termination of Life on Request
and Assisted Suicide [Review Procedures] Act or Euthanasia Act for short).

Until now, factors such as income or a patient’s social life played
almost no role when physicians were considering a euthanasia request.
However, the new guidelines will certainly change that. After almost a
year of discussions, the KNMG has published a paper which says social
factors and diseases and ailments that are not terminal may also qualify
as unbearable and lasting suffering under the Euthanasia Act.

At the moment, there are approximately one million elderly people in the
Netherlands with multi-morbidity (two or more long-term diseases or
ailments) and that number is expected to rise to 1.5 million in the
course of the coming decade. According to the new guidelines,
vulnerability (or fragility) refers to health problems, and the ensuing
limitations, as well as a concurrent decline in other areas of life such
as financial resources, social network and social skills.
…..
Read the whole very interesting article at
http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/euthanasia-advice-redefines-suffering

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Posted in Assisted dying, Assisted Suicide, death, Derek Humphry, Dignitas, Euthanasia, Hemlock, Mercy Killing, right to die, RTD News, Self-Deliverance, Suicide (rational) | No Comments »

UK prosecutor says no assisted suicide cases worthy of charges have reached him

Sep 7th, 2011 by

The Crown Prosecution Service [in England] has not implemented a “blanket policy” banning the prosecution of cases of assisted suicide, its head has insisted. The Director of Public Prosecutions Keir Starmer admitted that no prosecutions had been brought for the offense since new CPS guidelines were issued 18 months ago.

But he said after personally overseeing all the “unique” cases since then, none have involved an individual who was “motivated by the prospect of gaining from the victim’s death”.

Mr Starmer’s comments came after campaigners against a change in assisted suicide law claimed prosecutors were interpreting the new guidelines too liberally and risked creating “legalisation by stealth”.

Supporters of a change in the law however said the protocol – which was introduced in February last year and put the motives of those assisting suicide at the centre of the decision over whether they should be prosecuted – is not enough.

In an interview with The Times newspaper, Mr Starmer said: “Any inference that the Crown Prosecution Service has implemented a blanket policy of simply not prosecuting for this offence would be wrong. Each case is carefully considered on its own facts and merits. Prosecutors must decide the importance of each public interest factor in the circumstances of each case and go on to make an overall assessment.

“Assisting or encouraging suicide remains a criminal offence, and there must always be a thorough investigation into any suspected cases.”

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Posted in Assisted dying, Assisted Suicide, Derek Humphry, Dignitas, Euthanasia, Final Exit Network, Politics/Law, right to die, RTD News | No Comments »

Heads up on current right to die matters

Sep 2nd, 2011 by

Two matters which might (or might not) affect you:
#1.
The FBI is still pressing local police and Interpol to visit persons who have been in contact with the GLADD Group, in Southern California, over helium hood kits. New York police, for instance, have made some ‘wellness checks’ six weeks ago, and again in recent days! And customers of GLADD have also been recently visited in Canada and Switzerland.

So don’t be surprised if you still get a call from police. Just assure them that you are well, thank you, and that the reason you contacted GLADD was in case of serious illness in the future. Do not invite them in (unless they have a search warrant, which is unlikely.) Handle their call on your doorstep.

These police ‘wellness checks’ are legal under health laws.

GLADD has of course been shut down by the FBI since 25 May, and the 91-year-old manufacturer of the kits on her home sewing machine, Sharlotte Hydorn, is still waiting to see if she is going to be prosecuted for anything.

# 2
The old canard about helium being diluted so that it is no longer lethal is circulating again. It is of course not true.

If the manufacturers diluted their helium they would lose the multi-million business from industry, science, laboratories, diving companies, and the party balloon kits. Plus, if they diluted the helium, by law they would have clearly to mark every canister with that information.

In the ten years since the helium hood method of self-deliverance from a terminal illness has been publicly known — and used — an instance of dilution of this inert gas has never surfaced. Hundreds of dying persons have used this escape route from their suffering.

Derek Humphry, president, ERGO. Author ‘Final Exit’

www.finalexit.org ergo@finalexit.org

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Posted in Assisted dying, Assisted Suicide, Derek Humphry, Dignitas, Euthanasia, Final Exit, GLADD, People in the News, Politics/Law, right to die, RTD News, RTD Organizations, Self-Deliverance, Suicide (rational) | 1 Comment »

Time Britain allowed assisted suicide for the dying, says expert

Aug 30th, 2011 by

Terminally ill patients should receive medical help to commit suicide if
they want to die, a [UK] government adviser has said.

Martin Green, a social care expert for the Department of Health, said
those who were physically unable to end their own lives were being
deprived of “choice” and “autonomy” in Britain where assisted suicide
remains illegal. He has now called for a change in the law.

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, he said policy should be
decided with either a referendum or a free vote in Parliament.

“If you’re going to give people ‘choice’, it should extend to whether or
not they want to die,” he told the paper. “If people have got the
capacity to make an informed choice then it is my view that they should
be allowed to make the informed choice.”

Tags: , , , , ,

Posted in Assisted dying, Assisted Suicide, death, Derek Humphry, Dignitas, Euthanasia, Hemlock, People in the News, right to die, RTD News, Self-Deliverance, Suicide (rational) | No Comments »

Poet writes of his life and death

Aug 18th, 2011 by

Andrew Barkley writes to ERGO: I’m an author and someone living with a critical illness. I’ve recently written a poem in support of ‘dignity in dying’.

Ode to Life – TIME

Life is retiring me, how am I to cope?

Futile now it seems, my last lifeline of hope

What is to become of me, this frail life I behold

Soon I will need to be bathed, fed, and clothed

Society imposes on me, to gracefully grow old

To let mother nature decide my fate, so I am told

Where is the grace in dying, my body indisposed

Shall I call time on this lifeline, for whom the bell tolls.

————————————————————

Tags: , , , ,

Posted in Assisted dying, Assisted Suicide, death, Euthanasia, Final Exit, Opinion Pieces, Publications/InternetMedia, right to die, Self-Deliverance | 1 Comment »

TV anchor’s assisted suicide at Dignitas shocks Israel

Aug 16th, 2011 by

World Radio Switzerland reported 16 August 2011:

TV host’s assisted suicide in Zurich shines light on taboo in Israel

Assisted suicide is a topic that often gets coverage in Switzerland’s national media, but in Israel, the subject is taboo. In recent days, that taboo has been brought into the open, following news that a high-profile television and radio presenter, Avi Talmor, traveled to Switzerland to end his life with the help of assisted dying group, Dignitas.

Talmor wrote a series of accounts, explaining his decision, which goes against Israeli law and the Jewish faith.

Tags: , , , , ,

Posted in Assisted dying, Assisted Suicide, Dignitas, People in the News, right to die, RTD News, RTD Organizations, Suicide (rational) | No Comments »

Dignitas in Switzerland is thorough and genuine

Aug 8th, 2011 by

Some people wonder if the Dignitas assisted suicide clinic in Zurich, Switzerland, is genuine and reliable because it often gets a bad press from right-wing newspapers in Europe.

I consider Dignitas to be a reputable organization, doing a great service to humanity. I know doctors and researchers who have spent time there and studied the operation.. Their verdict is favorable. I have met Mr Minelli, who is the boss, at a conference in Paris and he struck me as a thoughtful man of integrity

Dignitas has many opponents, particularly in the news media, which concocts or exaggerates stories about their work.

If I needed their services I would use Dignitas. www.Dignitas.ch

——-Derek Humphry, www.finalexit.org

Tags: , , , ,

Posted in Assisted dying, Assisted Suicide, Derek Humphry, Dignitas, Euthanasia, Final Exit, Hemlock, People in the News, Politics/Law, right to die, RTD News, RTD Organizations, Suicide (rational) | No Comments »

Frank Langsner pleads guilty to minor offence in assisted suicide case

Jul 19th, 2011 by

PHOENIX, Ariz. — The last of the four criminal cases in Phoenix has been resolved without a trial.
The jury was unable to reach a verdict during the trial last April of Final Exit Network volunteer exit guide Frankin R. Langsner, of Scottsdale, a suburb of Phoenix. A retrial had been scheduled to take place in August. Instead, however, the State gave Langsner the opportunity to plead “guilty” to a minor charge. He entered the negotiated guilty plea in June.
The Phoenix police had charged Langsner, 86, with two serious felonies, “manslaughter” by aiding in a suicide and “conspiracy” to commit manslaughter, in connection with the self-deliverance of Jana Van Voorhis, 58, at her Phoenix home on April 12, 2007.
In the plea-bargain, the Maricopa County prosecutor’s office agreed to let Langsner plead guilty to one count of “endangerment,” and dropped the serious charges. “Endangerment” is a minimal felony, but under the terms of Continue Reading »

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Posted in Assisted dying, Assisted Suicide, Derek Humphry, Dignitas, Final Exit, Final Exit Network, People in the News, right to die, RTD News, RTD Organizations, Self-Deliverance, Suicide (rational) | 1 Comment »

Swiss government sticks with assisted suicide laws

Jun 29th, 2011 by

The Swiss government has dropped a plan to impose stricter rules for assisted suicide.
Switzerland has long permitted “passive assisted suicide,” where someone can give another person the means to kill themselves provided the helper doesn’t personally benefit from the death.
The government said Wednesday that existing laws provide enough safeguards to prevent abuse without giving the impression that the government approves the work of suicide groups such as Dignitas.
Some lobby groups abroad have called on Switzerland to ban what they term “suicide tourism” by preventing foreigners from using the groups’ services.
The government says the current rules strike a balance between protecting vulnerable individuals and safeguarding their right to self-determination. (From AP report)

Tags: , , , , ,

Posted in Assisted dying, Assisted Suicide, death, Dignitas, Final Exit, right to die, RTD News, RTD Organizations, Self-Deliverance, Suicide (rational) | No Comments »

The use of helium hood kits is defended

Jun 28th, 2011 by

LETTERS IN AN EDITOR’S MAILBAG
Published in the Eugene Register-Guard, Oregon, Jun 28, 2011

Right-to-die is gaining ground
The Oregon Legislature has taken a backhoe to crush a hen’s egg in the case of the helium hood kits for sale. Dozens of Oregonians have already stocked up with their kits. What the legislators, the FBI and the media don’t understand is that in this age of stressful modern medicine, longer living and degenerative diseases, a lot of people plan in advance to speed up their end if need be.

They may not in the end choose to kill themselves. But they want insurance against a protracted, painful, expensive death that is putting awful strains on the family. When they have a stash of lethal drugs or a helium hood kit it is a great consolation for far more people than is realized.

Evidence of that trend in advance health thinking is that the right-to-die groups in America and around the world were never stronger in leadership, membership or finances. Step by step the movement is getting physician-assisted suicide laws in place — 10 places so far. Other nations and states, most notably the United Kingdom and Australia, are close to reforming their laws on euthanasia.

That a few mentally troubled people sometimes use drugs or the kits to end their agony is a fact of human life. Yet must the 2 1/2 million Americans who die annually be deprived of possibly choosing a peaceful death because of the 31,000 who annually commit suicide?
— Derek Humphry, Junction City, Oregon

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Posted in Assisted dying, Assisted Suicide, death, Derek Humphry, Dignitas, Euthanasia, Final Exit, GLADD, Hemlock, Politics/Law, right to die, RTD News, RTD Organizations, Self-Deliverance, Suicide (rational) | No Comments »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »