EuthaNEWSia Headlines

Canadians ill-prepared for the inevitable

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:46:00 GMT

Canadians ill-prepared for the inevitable

The Montreal Gazette
EuthaNEWSia Advisory published: Friday, July 23, 2010
Tags: death; palliative care; end-of-life care; terminally ill; euthanasia; Canada

Description:

The introduction to this opinion: Nearly a quarter of a million Canadians die every year, most of them elderly, as a result of chronic illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, or Alzheimer's. Within a decade, that number will jump by nearly 100,000 a year to an estimated 330,000.

Basic numbers about care for the terminally ill:
Despite the passions aroused by hospital-based euthanasia, much of the care given to the terminally ill in Canada is provided by the dying person's family or friends. In 2007, nearly a quarter of Canadians said they had cared for a seriously ill family member or close friend in the last 12 months. Many of these caregivers had to stop working and use personal savings to survive. Governments appear to be relying unfairly on unpaid caregivers. According to data compiled by the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association, if volunteer caregiving was paid for, it would cost Canadians between $25 billion and $28 billion a year.

The report ends with: Unfortunately, in 2007, the Harper government disbanded the End-of-Life Care Secretariat and no work on a national palliative and end-of-life strategy seems to have been carried out since then. Underfunded and uncoordinated, palliative care has become the orphan of the country's medical system. It might well be because the system does not meet the needs of dying Canadians, who want simply to die as pain-free as possible and in their own homes, that the nightmare solution of euthanasia is gaining a foothold.

[Note: EuthaNEWSia starts a two week summer break today, with the next issue scheduled for Monday, August 9th.]

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

This Advisory was published on the EuthaNEWSia web site (www.euthanewsia.ca)

Death with Dignity: Facts of Oregon's experience

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:46:00 GMT

Death with Dignity: Facts of Oregon's experience

The Billings Gazette
EuthaNEWSia Advisory published: Friday, July 23, 2010
Tags: assisted suicide; Death With Dignity Act; Oregon; U.S.A.

Description:

Amy Jackson writes to Montanans about the facts of life under the Oregon Death with Dignity Act: I was the director of the Oregon Hospice Association between 1988 and 2008 - for 10 years prior to the implementation of ODDA and for the 10 years following. The perspective of hospice workers is significant because (1) they visit patients and families frequently in the last weeks and months of life; and (2) they are able to compare hospice patients who hasten death with hospice patients who do not. Their experience is important because 86 percent of persons who have used the Oregon Death with Dignity Act were enrolled in hospice.

Jackson reports on several effects of physician aid in dying, including: As Montanans debate how best to implement PAD, it is likely some will question whether it will deflect attention from providing adequate pain and symptom management. Fortunately in this matter, Oregon's experience shows the opposite. Before the implementation of the ODDA, end-of-life care in Oregon ranked high in almost all indicators. Contrary to the predictions of the law's opponents, it has remained at the top among U.S. states. Oregon's hospital death rate is among the lowest; its home death rate among the highest. Oregon's advanced planning rate is highest by a wide margin. In 2002, nearly 80 percent of dying Oregonians had an advance directive, and the likelihood that an advance directive would be respected was high. Oregon's end-of-life care has continued to improve under the ODDA, and it can be expected the same will prove true in Montana.

[Note: EuthaNEWSia starts a two week summer break today, with the next issue scheduled for Monday, August 9th.]

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

This Advisory was published on the EuthaNEWSia web site (www.euthanewsia.ca)

Wisconsin: Elderly Couple Commits Suicide Together

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 20:49:00 GMT

Wisconsin: Elderly Couple Commits Suicide Together

WTMJ-TV
EuthaNEWSia Advisory published: Thursday, July 22, 2010
Tags: suicide; helium; Wisconsin; U.S.A.

Description:

78-year-old Katherine 'Kitty' Gute was losing her battle with Alzheimer's. Her husband, Daniel, was a 79-year-old retired urologist who feared living alone in a nursing home. So together, they took their own lives.

The deaths were no surprise to cardiologist Dr. Bruce Wilson, a long-time family friend and supporter. "He discussed with me the fact that he was contemplating this, but I had nothing to do with the planning," Wilson told TODAY'S TMJ4 reporter Tom Murray. "I think what Dr. and Mrs. Gute would like for us to ponder in their recent action is, does it have to be that way? Do we have to always try to prolong life at any cost?"

The Gutes were found by their daughter in their garage. They were sitting in a car. It appears they suffocated or inhaled a lethal amount of helium gas, according to a medical examiner's report.

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

This Advisory was published on the EuthaNEWSia web site (www.euthanewsia.ca)

There are a lot better places to die than Canada

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 20:48:00 GMT

There are a lot better places to die than Canada

The Globe and Mail
EuthaNEWSia Advisory published: Thursday, July 22, 2010
Tags: quality of death; hospice; Canada

Description:

Referring to the Economist Intelligence Unit's recent Quality of Death Index, Andre Picard writes:
Canada didn't fare so well on the index. It is renowned for its technical abilities - using medication and other techniques such as music therapy to lessen pain and suffering - but scored a middling ninth out of 40 countries.

There are four principal reasons for the mediocre showing: End-of-life care is poorly co-ordinated; it is expensive (many services and drugs needed at the end of life are not covered by medicare); patient-centred care is lacking (meaning the wishes of patients are not respected nearly enough) and there is a shortage of policy leadership (with the exception of the tireless work of Senator Sharon Carstairs, the issue is ignored by politicians).

The Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association, in a report released in June titled Quality of End-of-Life Care? It Depends on Where You Live … and Where You Die, also underscored these issues. In Canada, only 16 to 30 per cent of those who die receive specialized hospice or end-of-life care. Worse still, the availability and quality of care vary wildly across the country. (If you're wondering, the best places to die in Canada are Victoria, Edmonton and the Niagara region of Ontario.)

[There is information in the Notes section below.]

This Advisory was published on the EuthaNEWSia web site (www.euthanewsia.ca)

New Zealand: Dying GP's last wish: legalise euthanasia

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:46:00 GMT

New Zealand: Dying GP's last wish: legalise euthanasia

The New Zealand Herald
EuthaNEWSia Advisory published: Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tags: euthanasia; voluntary euthanasia; New Zealand

Description:

This report begins:
An Auckland doctor who has just months to live after being diagnosed with a terminal illness says it's time for euthanasia to be legalised. Dr John Pollock said it was unfair that if he lived in Holland, Belgium or some American states he would have the option of ending his life if his condition deteriorated to a point where he was suffering, but in New Zealand he faces a death he cannot control.

He believes it is time for a law change so people facing death have the comfort of knowing they can control the end. "The law as it stands in my view is cruel. It's outdated, it's cruel, it's unnecessary - it needs to be changed," said the former GP, who has metastatic melanoma.

"I think an individual has the right to choose for himself how his life goes and how it ends. I don't think that it is fair or it is moral for somebody else to suggest that they know better and that they have the right to determine that you may not be helped to die."

The 61-year-old, who retired from the Torbay clinic he was working at after being diagnosed in December, was told about four months ago that he might have six to nine months to live but said it was difficult to know what course his illness would take and when.

Later in the report: Under the current law, some terminally ill patients were left in the "most appallingly wretched states, sometimes akin to those who died of starvation in Nazi concentration camps", Dr Pollock said. "Ironically if we allowed a cat or a dog or a horse to reach such a condition we would be breaking the law and risking a prison sentence."

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

This Advisory was published on the EuthaNEWSia web site (www.euthanewsia.ca)

Britain: Paralysed Man Seeks Right To End His Life

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:46:00 GMT

Britain: Paralysed Man Seeks Right To End His Life

Sky News
EuthaNEWSia Advisory published: Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tags: mercy killing; judicial decision; Britain

Description:

The report starts: Tony Nicklinson, 56, can only communicate by blinking and nodding at letters to spell out words. He says that since suffering a massive stroke while on a business trip to Greece five years ago his quality of life has been so poor that he now wants the right to die.

But his disability means he cannot commit suicide. Instead he wants the law on mercy killing clarified so his wife can assist his death without being prosecuted for murder. In a statement, he said: "I am fed up with my life and don't want to spend the next 20 year or so like this. Am I grateful that the Athens doctors saved my life? No, I am not."

The reporter notes that Mr Nicklinson is too ill to travel to the Swiss suicide clinic Dignitas. He has considered starving himself to death, but it would take weeks and distress his family.

Later, the report says: His campaign is backed by Dignity In Dying. Its chief executive Sarah Wotton said: "The law of murder is primarily used to convict people who act out of malicious motivation. It should not be used to prosecute someone who compassionately helps a person who is suffering to die at their request."

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

This Advisory was published on the EuthaNEWSia web site (www.euthanewsia.ca)

Washington: The last word against cancer

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:38:00 GMT

Washington: The last word against cancer

The Spokesman-Review
EuthaNEWSia Advisory published: Monday, July 19, 2010
Tags: nitrogen inhalation; refusal of treatment; suicide

Description:

Dan Treecraft, 61, is suffering from terminal stage tongue cancer and has decided to take his own life. The report explains:

Diagnosed with tongue cancer last winter, Treecraft, who didn't smoke or chew tobacco, was given six to 24 months to live. He isn't holding out for a miracle cure. He's not even seeking treatment.

If he's nervous about the coming day when he plans to slip a small mask over his mouth and nose and begin to breathe nitrogen gas, he doesn't let on. If all goes according to plan, he will lose consciousness and die from asphyxiation. Perhaps this summer. He has publicly embraced this choice. In June he invited friends to a party - part roast and part wake.

Later in the report: One of Treecraft's friends at the wake was Dr. Ryan Holbrook, a surgical oncologist with Cancer Care Northwest. He doesn't agree with Treecraft's plans, but he respects his friend's choice.

"What I hope we can learn from Dan is this: We need to love, respect and honor the wishes of our loved ones," Holbrook said. Oftentimes patients and their families pull out all the stops. People who can't bear the thought of their elderly parents dying subject them to treatments that keep them alive, though heavily sedated, and bed-bound for their final few months. "We don't tend to see death as a normal thing that happens to all of us," Holbrook said. "Maybe what we should be doing is providing comfort, and valuing their memories and stories."

And: Treecraft doesn't want modern medicine playing a role in his death, so he's not seeking help from a doctor. Holbrook, who is not Treecraft's doctor, did talk to his friend about tongue cancer and counseled him to listen to his physician. Palliative care has made big strides, and cancer patients don't have to live in misery year after year.

But Treecraft is resolute, deciding six months ago he wouldn't subscribe to the standard medical approach.

This Advisory was published on the EuthaNEWSia web site (www.euthanewsia.ca)

Germany: A third of doctors would help terminally ill die

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:37:00 GMT

Germany: A third of doctors would help terminally ill die

The Local
EuthaNEWSia Advisory published: Monday, July 19, 2010
Tags: doctor; assisted suicide; poll; Germany

Description:

More than one in three German doctors would consider helping a patient to commit suicide, according to a survey which has been kept under wraps since last September. The survey also shows that around a quarter of doctors would consider actively participating in the death of a patient, according to the analysis, reported Der Spiegel.

President of the German medical association Jorg-Dietrich Hoppe said doctors should not fear being prosecuted if they help a terminally ill person kill themselves, as assisting someone to commit suicide does not attract a criminal punishment. "If a doctor is fine with it ethically, to help someone commit suicide, then they can do that under current conditions," he said.

"There are ways in which doctors can help their patients without fear of being punished — for example via issuing a prescription." He said he could not personally accept the idea, but added, "I always have understanding for individual cases. I don't know how many do it. But much happens unofficially and the prosecutors do not take action."

The survey, conducted by the Allensbach polling company for the medical association, questioned 527 representative doctors from various disciplines. It suggested more than a third of medics had been asked for help in committing suicide, a rate which rose to half among general practitioners.

Of those doctors who regularly treat those with fatal conditions, 47 percent said they are asked for help to commit suicide "frequently". Around a third said they wanted to see a legal regulation introduced. [Thanks to Dying with Dignity New South Wales for the alert on this story.]

This Advisory was published on the EuthaNEWSia web site (www.euthanewsia.ca)