Australia: Man charged for killing pain-ridden partner whose drug overdose failed

Description: [of the article from the Brisbane Times]

The report begins: "She had overdosed on antidepressant pills twice in 24 hours. But when the drugs seemed to fail, David Scott Mathers did what he believed he should. Mr Mathers told police he suffocated his partner of 22 years, Eva Griffiths, with a plastic bag to release her from the constant pain of osteoarthritis, a condition for which doctors had told her nothing could be done. He is now accused of her murder.

Mr Mathers, 66, was last week committed to stand trial in the Supreme Court, despite the apparent sympathy of the Director of Public Prosecutions. The prosecutor, David Vautin, told the Downing Centre Local Court that in cases involving assisted suicide the Crown was ''regrettably … left in a situation where there is only one charge that we see as appropriate''.

In the three weeks before her death, Ms Griffiths had twice been taken to hospital in pain."

[There is information in the Notes section below.]
[There are other related stories in the Links section below.]

Links:

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Source:

Kontominas, Bellinda. "Man charged for killing pain-ridden partner whose drug overdose failed". Brisbane Times. June 21, 2010. <www.brisbanetimes.com.au/nsw/man-charged-for-killing-painridden-partner-whose-drug-overdose-failed-20100620-ypc0.html>. Copyright (c) 2010. Brisbane Times, Fairfax Digital <www.fairfax.com.au>

Tags:

Tags (or keywords) briefly indicate some major topics of the report.

  • mercy killing

  • Australia

Notes:

Videos:

  • Dr. Jack Kevorkian on Larry King Live [Politically Illustrated]
    http://politicallyillustrated.com/index.php?/news_page/video/1490/
    [A video can be viewed from this page.] The report begins: "Doctor Jack Kevorkian, a doctor known for wanting to kill his patients, joined Larry King on Friday in support of medically-assisted suicide.

    "They do it secretly now. Doctors do it secretly now. Also, you have spouses where one shoots and kills the other and then has to commit suicide because they are afraid of prosecution. These are unnecessary deaths, unnecessary suffering," Dr. Jack Kevorkian told Larry King.

    What would be his ideal law?

    "They would contact the doctor, the doctor would find out the complaint. The doctor would receive the clients medical records and research past treatments and analyze if anything else is possible to cure the pain. What works, what doesn't…" said Dr. Kevorkian.    "

  • Video: Nitschke on pressure testing a helium cylinder [Twitter]
    http://twitter.com/philipnitschke

    Philip Nitschke: "I uploaded a YouTube video —  Helium Final.wmv"

ID:

The EuthaNEWSia ID for this advisory is: enid201006218961.
Mailed: Monday, June 21, 2010 13:56:56 -0600
at Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Etcetera:

EuthaNEWSia is a free Canadian news advisory service covering end-of-life issues such as right to die, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. EuthaNEWSia is produced by the Right to Die Society of Canada which works toward a good death for all, including open, regulated and equitable access to euthanasia and assisted suicide. The editor is Michael Dawson <editor@euthanewsia.ca>. 

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