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assisted suicide

euthanasia

Switzerland

Canada: "We need a war on pain" [The Montreal Gazette]
http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/montreal/need+pain/3476677/story.html

Charlie Fidelman reports: As the Olympics of Pain wraps up in Montreal and Quebecers prepare to debate the controversial issue of physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia starting Tuesday, neuroscientist Kathleen Foley says it's about time society faced death head-on.

In an interview with The Gazette at the 13th World Congress on Pain in Montreal yesterday, Foley, of the renowned Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York and adviser to the World Health Organization cancer and palliative care unit, said euthanasia has fallen off the radar of most countries.

An extract:
[Fidelman:] The debate in euthanasia often zeroes in on pain.
[Foley:] It's very real. I've just finished writing a paper on how well cancer pain is treated. There's under-treatment of cancer pain throughout Canada. The Canadian Pain Society and the Canadian Palliative Care Association have looked at (data on cancer pain). The physician-assisted suicide debate has been dead around the world. … Yes. It's sort of fallen off. The assisted-suicide people want you to think it's an active debate. But people really want care. So "palliative" becomes the discussion, the focal point. When people are being denied good care at home, 24-hour nursing care for the last days of their lives, why would they not want to die, if no one was going to be helping them? But they didn't really want to die, they just wanted care.

[Fidelman:] If the euthanasia debate has fallen off the radar internationally, what are we doing here?
[Foley:] I thought it was fascinating you were looking at it again here. It came from a group of people who were arguing euthanasia should be a part of palliative care -a continuum of palliative care. And the palliative-care community very strongly said: 'This is no continuum.' We're into the quality of living for those who may be dying, not into the quality of their dying. Belgium has been the only country to argue that construct (that euthanasia is part of palliative care). The rest of world said: 'That's not what we do. We're about the care of the living.' Countries don't want to be seen as hastening a patient's death, as killing patients. Early criticism of all of us who did palliative care is that we were euthanizing people.

Quebec: Better palliative care would end euthanasia debate, group says [The Montreal Gazette]
http://www.montrealgazette.com/health/Better+palliative+care+would+euthanasia+debate+group+says/3471969/story.html

Instead of debating the decriminalization of euthanasia, what Quebec needs is better palliative care, says a group representing the province's retired public-sector employees. "It's been demonstrated that people with chronic illnesses who receive appropriate care are less likely to want to end their lives," Madelaine Michaud, president of the provincial association of retired public sector workers, said in a statement yesterday.

Through access to information requests, the group found there are just over 600 palliative care beds available in Quebec. The association said more than 35,000 people die of chronic illnesses each year in Quebec who could benefit from palliative care.

Canada: Latimer, too, might be a victim [The Victoria Times Colonist]
http://www.timescolonist.com/opinion/Latimer+might+victim/3468221/story.html

Sharon Sutherland begins her letter: A writer says she feels unsafe because Robert Latimer is walking the streets of Victoria while she navigates them in her wheelchair.

Latimer could likely have found a dozen different ways to let his child die. If Latimer had acted more discreetly, he might have been charged with negligence, if that. Instead, in taking his child's life to end her suffering, he chose a method that spared her further pain and fear and made his own role in her death undeniable. He further told the police how he had proceeded. It might be conceivable that Latimer acted too soon, that some miracle could have pulled his child out of her situation. But it is absolutely certain that he did not act casually or from selfish motives.

Sutherland concludes: Latimer could well be a victim of the medical system's unwillingness, in his daughter's case, to see when enough is enough and to stop making painful surgical interventions. As well, he has been, and perhaps always will be, the victim of a society that simplifies and twists his own, his daughter's and his family's tragic story for its own purposes.

Scotland: Margo MacDonald wins backing in bid to permit "dignified dying" [Scotsman.com]
http://news.scotsman.com/scotland/Margo-MacDonald-wins-backing-in.6510854.jp

Margo MacDonald's bid to legalise assisted suicide has been given a boost after the Humanist Society of Scotland launched a campaign backing her proposal. The independent MSP was joined by members of the pressure group when it announced its support for her controversial End of Life Choices Bill.

Next week, parliamentarians will begin hearing expert evidence from witnesses on the highly contentious proposal, which would see the very ill request help to die with assistance from a medically qualified person. Ms MacDonald's proposal has already generated a fierce backlash from religious groups and she has faced strong opposition from Care Not Killing, an alliance of individuals, human rights groups and faith-based organisations.

Yesterday, she welcomed the support of the HSS, a growing secular organisation that believes lives should be guided by "reason and compassion rather than religion or superstition". Despite the vocal opposition to Ms MacDonald's proposals, HSS claimed that most people in Britain supported physician assisted suicide. At the launch of the Let Me Choose campaign, HSS Secretary John Bishop said: "Most British people support physician-assisted suicide, as reports compiled since the mid-90s have shown.

The report notes: Juliet Wilson, convener of the HSS, added that the organisation had launched a website "Letmechoose.org.uk" to publicise their campaign.

Scotland: Parkinson's sufferer backs Margo Bill to allow assisted dying [Scotsman.com]
http://news.scotsman.com/edinburgh/Parkinson39s-sufferer-backs-Margo-Bill.6508615.jp

A woman suffering from Parkinson's Disease today spoke out in favour of Independent Lothians MSP Margo MacDonald's Bill to allow assisted dying. Julie Johnston, 69, who sees her condition steadily deteriorating, said she believed people in her position should have a choice about bringing their life to an end.

Mrs Johnston, of Gayfield Square, said she was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1989. "It was noticeable, but for many years it was not bothering me," she said. "Then, two years ago, I started to have hallucinations and I was falling over on a daily basis. It has been more or less like that ever since." She has had to give up her favourite pastimes of gardening, sewing and embroidery. She cannot go out on her own and uses a walking stick indoors and a three-wheeled walker when she ventures out.

She said: "Each day, step by step, what has made a good life for me is gradually being eroded." She believes she could reach the point where she knows she has had enough and feels it would be a comfort to know she could ask for assistance in ending her life.

"I think quite strongly I would like someone to give me relief," she said. "Margo's trying to give people like me control of our lives. I want to be able do what is necessary with help and guidance. "I'm very basic in what I think. I just feel the people should be given a choice."

Scotland: MSPs gather evidence on suicide bill [Scotsman.com]
http://news.scotsman.com/health/MSPs-gather-evidence-on-suicide.6501934.jp

MSPs plan to take evidence from up to 50 witnesses before coming to a view on Margo MacDonald's controversial bill to allow assisted dying. The committee set up by the Scottish Parliament to scrutinise the Independent Lothians MSP's End of Life Assistance Bill has published a list of witnesses who will be invited to appear before them at a series of six separate sessions starting on September 7.

They include experts in clinical ethics, medical law and bioethics from the UK, the Netherlands and Switzerland, and campaigners on both sides of the debate.

The six-strong committee, chaired by senior Liberal Democrat MSP Ross Finnie, has a deadline of November 24 to produce its report before all MSPs get the chance to debate.

Terry Pratchett: Euthanasia is a "very human thing" [Foyles Bookshop]
http://www.foyles.co.uk/news-800051166-Terry+Pratchett:+Euthanasia+is+a+very+human+thing

Sir Terry Pratchett has reaffirmed his support for reform of euthanasia laws in the UK.

In an interview with the Guardian, the I Shall Wear Midnight author said that people who suffer from serious illnesses should have the option to end their own lives, as they do in places such as Switzerland and Oregon.

'I feel embarrassed that people from this country have to go, cap in hand, to die in Switzerland,' he explained, adding that he believes it is a 'very human thing' for people to consider ending their own life when their suffering becomes too great.

Interview: Debbie Purdy, assisted suicide campaigner [New Statesman]
http://www.newstatesman.com/health/2010/09/interview-suicide-8200-feel

Debbie Purdy has a frank and cheerful interview with Sophie Elmhirst. An excerpt: How did it feel to win your appeal to get the prosecution guidelines clarified?
I was preparing to lose and was in the middle of organising to go to Dignitas. Winning was like being given permission to be alive.

What do you think of the new guidelines?
I think they are good enough for me, but I don't think they are good enough for everybody.

How have they changed your situation?
The pressure to make a decision doesn't feel as imminent. Also - this sounds so awful - I love my husband, but I don't feel like I've got to be as acquiescent as I did.

Why?
I was reliant on somebody loving me enough to risk his liberty in order to support my choices. Now, I know I am not dependent on that, and it has made Omar feel independent, too - he feels helping me is more his choice.

What does Omar think of your choice?
He doesn't always agree with me, but he will always support my right to make my own decisions. And that's all you can ask for from another human being.

You now campaign on behalf of others. Why?
It would be disgusting of me to say, "Well, my life's OK now; I'm confident my husband won't get prosecuted, so I'm not going to help anyone else," when others have helped me so much.

Montana: Fire investigation reveals "mercy killing" [Missoulian]
http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_4f6a0038-b5f4-11df-8e2a-001cc4c002e0.html

An investigation into a house fire in northwestern Montana took a grisly turn when authorities discovered the elderly couple living there were involved in a murder-suicide that police say was meant to be a mercy killing.

Authorities originally believed that Ted and Swanie Hardgrove, both 81, died in the Saturday morning fire that burned down their home in a rural area of Lincoln County north of Libby, where they had been longtime residents. The bodies were taken to the state crime lab, where it was discovered that both Hardgroves had single gunshot wounds to their heads, Lincoln County Sheriff's Capt. Roby Bowe said Wednesday.

Amid the charred wreckage, a gun was discovered near Ted Hardgrove's body and a letter in which he explained his actions. Authorities concluded that Ted Hardgrove shot his wife, set fire to the house and then shot himself, Bowe said. "It was more an act of despair out of love. They both had medical issues. She was in a huge amount of pain," Bowe said. "He could not take it anymore. He could not see her in that amount of pain anymore."

Swanie Hardgrove had cerebral palsy and her suffering had grown intense in the days leading up to the shooting, Bowe said. She had been in and out of hospitals for some time and her treatment was not easing the pain.

India: Karibasamma turns down offers of aid, wants to be allowed dignity in death [DNA India]
http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_karibasamma-turns-down-offers-of-aid-wants-to-be-allowed-dignity-in-death_1430688

The case of 70-year-old HB Karisbasamma, who has moved the high court seeking permission for mercy killing or euthanasia, has evoked much debate and discussion. After news of her plight spread, she has received many offers of financial aid. +
However, the 70-year-old is quite sure that what she needs is permission to end a life that has been lived with dignity so far. She is averse to receiving financial aid to meet medical expenses, and she would not have people think that she committed suicide. +
"What I seek is mercy killing, not offers of aid," Karibasamma said, firmly and without ambiguity. +
The report ends: The pain is so excruciating that she likens it to a fresh death each day. "I die everyday. I want to die once and for all. I don't want to commit suicide; I want the government's permission to end my life. I have fought valiantly for life, now I do not wish to continue that fight any longer," she said.

Al Pacino, Claire Danes celebrate their Emmy wins at HBO's star-studded post-party [Los Angeles Times]
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/gossip/2010/08/emmy-awards-hbo-al-pacino-claire-danes.html

Truth may be stranger than fiction, but it's also more compelling, if the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards are any indication. Two vastly different individuals — right-to-die activist Dr. Jack Kevorkian and Temple Grandin, an autism and animal-welfare advocate — were the toast of HBO's lush post-Emmy party at the Pacific Design Center, along with their Hollywood doppelgangers — Al Pacino and Claire Danes —  who took home the gold for their performances in the cable network's biopics "You Don't Know Jack" and "Temple Grandin."

"If it's a good script about a real person, the reality of it, the credibility of it heightens the drama," Pacino said. The controversial Kevorkian had just left the cluster of VIP tables for "You Don't Know Jack," where Susan Sarandon, who played euthanasia advocate Janet Good, sat chatting with friends.

The doctor may not be much of a party boy, but Grandin, who came garbed in a black western shirt and pants, seemed to be enjoying the spotlight.

After Emmys, Kevorkian eyes Oscar, more [Detroit Free Press]
http://www.freep.com/article/20100831/COL32/8310359/1322/After-Emmys-Kevorkian-eyes-Oscar

Comeback Jack?

For a guy who was described as near death a few years ago when he was pleading with the state for an early release from prison, Jack Kevorkian appeared to be a pretty healthy 82-year-old at the Emmy Awards in Los Angeles.

However, Kevorkian attorney Mayer Morganroth of Southfield, returning Monday with Kevorkian from Los Angeles, said Michigan's Dr. Death remains frail and regularly falls down. "A half hour before the show, he fell," Morganroth said. "At the party afterward, he fell once. He needs rails to walk up stairs. He leans on me."

Still, Morganroth said, Kevorkian is enjoying his renewed notoriety and will take advantage of it sometime this fall to launch an effort for recognition of a right to die. Morganroth would not be more specific about what Kevorkian is planning. The de-licensed pathologist, who was hoping when he went to prison in 1999 that his murder conviction would lead to a landmark Supreme Court case, agreed as a condition of parole that he'd no longer help people kill themselves.

Philip Nitschke: Upcoming North American Public Meetings [Medical Futility Blog]
http://medicalfutility.blogspot.com/2010/09/philip-nitschke-upcoming-north-american.html

[Previously published as a EuthaNEWSia Note item.] Professor Thaddeus Pope reproduces the Exit International schedule of Exit International Meetings and Safe Suicide Workshops. Some highlights:

Vancouver, Thursday 7 October
Toronto, Wednesday 13 October
New York, Wednesday 20 October
Orlando, Saturday 23 October
San Francisco, Friday 5 November

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