Euthanasia and hospices: the unexpected link

Description: [of the article from The EXIT euthanasia blog]

The EXIT euthanasia blogger writes about the Economist Intelligence Unit study covered in Wednesday's EuthaNEWSia:
It notes that pro-euthanasia legislation in the Northern Territory of Australia (subsequently overturned by the federal government) prompted new funding for end-of-life care. It also observes that, ". . . most recently attention has focused on the UK, where prominent campaigners such as author Sir Terry Pratchett, who has Alzheimer's disease, and Debbie Purdy, a multiple sclerosis sufferer, are pushing legalisation of assisted suicide. However, such demands are coming largely from the public, rather than the palliative and hospice care profession. "If you look at the percentage of palliative care doctors who are opposed to assisted suicide in the UK, it's over 90%," says David Praill of Help the Hospices. "This is a publicly driven debate and definitely not a hospice and palliative care driven one.""

So why are euthanasia and palliative care such uneasy bedfellows - especially in countries that lack ‘right-to-die’ legislation? Palliative care groups have to strive for funding as well as assert the effectiveness of their regimes. They focus on the (large number) of patients they can potentially help the most. Right-to-die campaigners, on the other hand, represent the tiny number of cases that feel poorly served by palliative care.

The concluding paragraph:
Exit's view on the dilemma is encapsulated in its Constitution and Mission Statement. It sees three main objectives: the ‘right-to-die’; improved palliative care; equal access to resources for people with unbearable and unrelievable suffering (ending the ‘postcode lottery’). Yet Exit's main duty becomes the practical implementation of the right-to-die aspects of that policy and, within that, a focus on self-deliverance. (Even though Exit produces leaflets campaigning for improved palliative care and an end to the postcode lottery.) Maybe the political dynamic of urging assisted suicide legislation also helps the hospices and palliative care groups to achieve better healthcare in their chosen fields. We are all seeking, from different angles, a ‘good death.’

[There are other related stories in the Links section below.]
[There are stories in the Overflow section below.]

Links:

To read the full article click on one of these links, both of which go to the same destination. A short link is provided for the convenience of readers. Also, readers may search and browse past and future advisories on the web (see bottom.)

Source:

"Euthanasia & hospices: the unexpected link". The EXIT euthanasia blog. Posted on Wednesday, July 14, 2010 by exiteuthanasia. <exiteuthanasia.wordpress.com/2010/07/14/euthanasia-the-hospice-uneasy-deathbed-mates/>. Exit, 17 Hart Street, Edinburgh EH1 3RN Scotland, United Kingdom.

Tags:

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

  • Exit

  • Scotland

  • Britain

  • hospice

  • euthanasia

  • self-deliverance

Overflow:

Stories that EuthaNEWSia did not get to:

  • Scotland: Stop my brother's cancer suicide [The Scottish Sun]
    http://www.thesun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/3052957/Stop-my-brother-Jeffrey-Wrights-cancer-suicide.html

    A distraught man is demanding a change in the law to force doctors to help his dying brother - who is refusing treatment for his cancer. Steven Wright, 51, insists 48-year-old Jeffrey is being allowed to "commit suicide" as he can't face chemotherapy. He says blood cancer sufferer Jeffrey - who had beaten the illness six years ago - does not want to go through the trauma again, despite docs saying he could possibly recover.

    Steven said: "Our hands are tied as we know he can get better if he has treatment. Doctors have said he could possibly recover. It's a form of suicide. We cannot just watch this happen."

    Margo MacDonald comments: Families shouldn't have the right to overrule a patient's right to say no to treatment. I can see how a relative would do this out of love, but the person with the illness should make the decision. They may reach the stage where their illness is intolerable and want a peaceful end.

  • USA: Length of Hospice Stays Have Been Growing [Medical Futility Blog]
    http://medicalfutility.blogspot.com/2010/07/lengths-of-hospice-stays-growing.html

    Professor Thaddeus Pope writes: Here is some good news from a study, set to be published in the August issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The average length of hospice stays has doubled in 10 years. The study evaluated hospice use in U.S. nursing homes between 1999 and 2006. The study found the typical treatment time has increased from 46 days to 93 days. The researchers cited a standard daily payment rate for most Medicare hospice enrollment days as an incentive for some of the longer stays. The authors of the report noted that the increased use and availability of Medicare-sponsored hospice services was a positive development, but said they are concerned that stays are longest in states with the greatest provider growth. (HT: BNA Health Care Daily)

  • New music video on YouTube portrays the right-to-die movements personalities [World right-to-die news list]
    http://lists.opn.org/pipermail/right-to-die_lists.opn.org/2010-July/003965.html

    There is a newly-produced, 8-minute plus tribute to the right-to-die movement, and to the Final Exit Network:

    Click on http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=o0ES9dv5d4E

    This video is in tribute to the right-to-die movement, and in tribute to the Final Exit Network. The music is titled "The Final Right Of Death" by Chris of SolestiaGoaTrance/NightsAmore, who has a YouTube channel here at this link : http://www.youtube.com/user/SolestiaGoaTrance

    The following names are of the people whom appeared in the images presented in this video :

    Dr. Jack Kevorkian
    Craig Ewert (who spoke at certain moments during the song)
    Ludwig Minelli
    Dr. Philip Nitschke
    Terry Pratchett
    Debbie Purdy (with her husband)
    Edward Downes and Joan Downes
    Dr. Larry Egbert
    Ted Goodwin
    Jerry Dincin
    Derek Humphry

  • Spain: Over half Spaniard's in favour of euthanasia [The Leader]
    http://www.theleader.info/article/23882/spain/national/over-half-spaniards-in-favour-of-euthanasia/

    A study titled Social values and drugs presented in Madrid last Tuesday revealed that over 60 percent of Spaniards aged between 15 and 64 years of age are completely or partially in favour of euthanasia, but only 21 percent view suicide as permissible.

  • Dying with Dignity New South Wales July Newsletter [Dying with Dignity New South Wales]
    http://www.dwdnsw.org.au/ves/index.php/Articles/jul-10-newsletter

    [Editor's note: I found the five page literature review a very useful collection of information from around the world.]
    The July 2010 newsletter is now available and contains articles on: Doctors' attitudes to DWD/VE: a literature review;
    The new community organiser:
    The President's report;
    World Federation of Right-to-die Societies Conference 2010;
    The Treasurer's Report;
    ACT Branch News;
    Central Coast Branch News; and
    Updates.

    You can download a pdf version of the newsletter from a link on the web page.

ID:

The EuthaNEWSia ID for this advisory is: enid201007162582.
Mailed: Friday, July 16, 2010 15:03:56 -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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