Connecticut: In Alleged Assisted Suicide, A Question Of Ethics

Description: [of the article from The Hartford Courant]

Helping someone commit suicide can be a selfish act, or it can be done out of love, said [Stephen] Latham, a medical ethicist at Yale University. And helping someone with a mentally disabling condition like Alzheimer's disease, as in George Brodigan's death, creates those complex ethical issues.

George Brodigan, a prominent retired lawyer, died Sept. 14 at his Timberwood Road home with a half-filled bottle of Mount Gay rum and a copy of Derek Humphry's "Final Exit," a guide to ending one's life, at his bedside. Yellow pills were found underneath his body.

Connecticut law makes it illegal for a person to assist in another's suicide, and Bruce Brodigan, a 46-year-old teacher from Somerville, Mass., was charged with helping his father. Police said Bruce Brodigan told them he directed his father to write his own suicide note and prepared some bread and butter for his father to eat before he took his own life - steps recommended in "Final Exit."

Police said the amitriptyline found in George Brodigan's body was an antidepressant medication prescribed to his son. In addition, George Brodigan had a blood alcohol level of 0.13, well over legal definitions of impairment. The cause of death was listed as an overdose of amitriptyline and alcohol, police said, and the manner of death was listed as undetermined.

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

  • http://tinyurl.com/69y97wx

  • http://www.courant.com/news/breaking/hc-west-hartford-brodigan-0108-20110107,0,1096796.story

    Also see:

  • Connecticut: We should have the right to die as we choose [The Hartford Courant]
    http://blogs.courant.com/helen_ubinas/2011/01/we-should-have-the-right-to-di.html

    Helen Ubinas concludes her column: In 1995, the judiciary committee held a public hearing to consider making Connecticut the second state to legalize assisted suicide. Obviously that didn't happen. And obviously it's time to take a look at the law again. Lawlor, who was part of those discussions, agreed, although he doesn't think this session, with the death penalty already a controversial issue, is the right time.

    But another judiciary committee member, Sen. Andrew Roraback, offered a good alternative to overhauling the statute. Wednesday he pitched a bill that would make someone accused of aiding, not causing, another person's suicide eligible for accelerated rehabilitation. Lawlor said he supports the proposal.

    The thing that complicates these cases, Lawlor said, is that there is always love behind them.

    Maybe that's the problem then. Maybe assisted suicide is acceptable in the state's eyes only if it's driven by vengeance, not love.

  • Connecticut: Father's suicide: Man charged in father's suicide [wsbt.com]
    http://www.wsbt.com/news/hc-west-hartford-brodigan-0107-20110106,0,5470470.story

    Police have charged a Massachusetts man with second-degree manslaughter in connection with the suicide last September of his 82-year-old father, former attorney George D. Brodigan.

    Bruce Brodigan, 46, a teacher from Somerville, Mass., is accused of assisting in the overdose of the elder Brodigan, a Timberwood Road resident who had been a prominent area attorney and one-time interim Superior Court judge, but in recent years had Alzheimer's disease.

    Bruce Brodigan turned himself in on a warrant Wednesday afternoon and was released on a $250,000 non-surety bond. He is to be arraigned Thursday at Superior Court in Hartford on the manslaughter charge and three other counts: tampering with or fabricating evidence, providing a false statement and interfering with an officer.

Source:

Falcone, Amanda. "In Alleged Assisted Suicide, A Question Of Ethics". The Hartford Courant. 6:26 p.m. EST, January 7, 2011. <www.courant.com/news/breaking/hc-west-hartford-brodigan-0108-20110107,0,1096796.story>. The Hartford Courant, 285 Broad St., Hartford, CT. 06115, U.S.A.

Tags:

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

  • assisted suicide

  • prosecution

  • Connecticut

  • U.S.A.

Notes:

  • Other stories on the Pending Advisories page include:

    • Britain: Eminent surgeon joins right-to-die campaign

    • Barcelona man commits "assisted suicide" in Switzerland

    • USA: Hello Patients Rights Council

    • Wisconsin: Quadriplegic fighting for right to die moving to care facility

    • Scotland: Call for less aggressive treatment for elderly

    • Wisconsin: State should ration health care, doctor association proposes

    • Taiwan approves law to allow relatives to end life support

    • Australia: Parents raised possibility of euthanasia for disabled child, inquest told

    • Australia: Euthanasia was raised by dead girl's distraught parents

ID:

The EuthaNEWSia ID for this advisory is: enid201101109565.
Mailed: Monday, January 10, 2011 14:07:59 -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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