Taiwan: Mercy killing shows need for government support

Description: [of the article from the Taipei Times]

Following the case in which the 84-year-old Wang Ching-hsi murdered his long ill and disabled wife, several civic groups - along with lawmakers - urged the government to come up with more support measures for caregivers to prevent similar tragedies.

Last Sunday, Wang killed his wife, Wang Sun-yuan, who had been suffering from Parkinson's disease for decades and had recently been disabled after accidentally falling at home earlier this week, by hammering a screwdriver in to his wife's forehead.

Turning himself into the police immediately after committing the murder, Wang told the police that he did so because he wanted to put an end to his wife's suffering.

"The case shows very well the problems of our long-term care system," said Frank Wang, an associate professor at National Chengchi University's Graduate Institute of Social Work, who is active in pushing for legislation for more government assistance in taking care of the nation's seniors, at a news conference at the Legislative Yuan.

Wang said that family members of disabled seniors could not be automatically considered caregivers: "They also need a break, because taking care of seniors can be a very tiring a frustrating task."

He said that at the moment, the government is only willing to provide minimal services to seniors living alone, and excludes those with families or with foreign caregivers from care programs.

According to government statistics, over 170,000 families hire caregivers from Southeast Asian countries to take care of their elderly relatives.

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

Links:

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  • http://tinyurl.com/25q34qt

  • http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2011/01/01/2003492398

    Also see:

  • Taiwan: Husband Perform Euthanasia [Oneindia News]
    http://news.oneindia.in/2010/12/28/husband-gives-euthanasia-to-wife-with-screwdrive.html

    Taipei, Dec 28: An 83-year-old man in Taiwan claimed that he performed euthanasia to his wife to end her prolonged sufferings. The accused name Wang Ching-hsi, a retired Engineer, killed his 80-year-old wife on Sunday, Dec 26.

    The victim name Sun Yuan-ping, who suffered from broken leg along with Parkinson disease. She was taken care by her husband. Their children were migrated to US.

    Wang, first gave sleeping pills to her, later he used hammer to knock screwdriver into her skull. Killing his wife the old man walked to police station and admitted the crime. And claimed that it was a "mercy killing."

    The mercy killing or euthanasia is still illegal in Taiwan. However, the Taiwan govt passed a draft in Jun. This draft allows family to stop medical support for people, who have prolong suffering, which prevents them from eventual death.

    The couple earlier discussed to commit suicide to escape from the old age illness. Even Wang had mentioned about this, in one of his blog.

Source:

Iok-sin, Loa. "Mercy killing shows need for government support". Taipei Times. Sat, Jan 01, 2011. <www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2011/01/01/2003492398>. Taipei Times, 14F, N0. 399, Ruiguang Rd., Neihu District, Taipei City 11492, Taiwan.

Tags:

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

  • mercy killing

  • caregiver

  • end-of-life care

  • Republic of China (Taiwan)

ID:

The EuthaNEWSia ID for this advisory is: enid201101063554.
Mailed: Thursday, January 6, 2011 14:16:58 -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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