Thursday, March 25, 2010

Starvation 'within patient's rights'

Medical ethics experts have stood by a terminally ill patient's wish to starve herself to death, saying a doctor's task is to prevent suffering and not death.
Margaret Page has not eaten for 11 days and has drunk only a small amount of water. She has said she no longer wants to live, and three psychiatric assessments have found her capable of making her own decisions. The facility is respecting her decision as her right.

Mrs Page's husband, Barry Page, separated for 12 years, said the facility she lives in was not doing enough. He said his wife was starving herself to death in a "hunger strike" because the facility would not help walk her to the toilet and would not get her a wheelchair with a seat that did not hurt her. She also wanted "technology" in her room to stave off boredom. She was on a waiting list for these things and still several months away from getting them, he said. NZ Herald

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