Health minister says disabled should have help killing themselves

Health minister's assisted suicide comments condemned by SPUC Pro-Life: In an interview in The Times newspaper, Britain's new health minister Anna Soubry called it "ridiculous" that disabled and chronically-ill people are not given help to kill themselves in Britain."

Related: Italy "too Catholic" to legalize killing the disabled

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Dutch doctors turn to ‘continuous deep sedation’ to keep official euthanasia figures low

Christian Medical Comment: The Lancet report showing that euthanasia rates have not increased in the Netherlands since legalisation in 2002 will no doubt be seized upon by enthusiasts for decriminalisation in the UK and elsewhere but the figures are not at all what they seem at first sight and the press release sent out by the journal is selective and misleading in its reporting of the facts.

If you read the press release sent by the Lancet (reproduced by Medical Xpress) it all seems cut and dried. . . . But if you read the abstract along with the full article and accompanying comment you get a very different picture altogether.

The key fact which should alert people to something odd going on is the reference to ‘continuous deep sedation’ in the Netherlands which appears in the article’s abstract but tellingly (and perhaps even disingenuously) not in the Lancet press release.

The abstract states, ‘Continuous deep sedation until death occurred more frequently in 2010 (12.3% [11.6—13.1; 789 of 6861]) than in 2005 (8.2% [7.8—8.6; 521 of 9965]).’ But what was the rate of ‘continuous deep sedation until death’ in 2001 and previously?

On examining the article we learn from table 1 that it was not measured in 1990 and 1995 and was 5.6% in 2001. In other words there has been a steady increase in this category of cases which in 2010 accounted for 16,700 deaths. Over the same period the number of deaths after ‘intensified alleviation of symptoms’ has also increased from 20.1% to 36.4% and now accounts for over 49,500 deaths annually.

Levels of Dutch euthanasia have changed little since 2002 legalization, study finds

Levels of Dutch euthanasia have changed little since 2002 legalization, study finds - The Washington Post: A summary published Wednesday on The Lancet magazine’s website said that “in 2010, of all deaths in the Netherlands, 2.8 percent were the result of euthanasia. This is higher than the 1.7 percent in 2005, but comparable with (levels seen) in 2001 and 1995.”

Analysis: Dutch doctors turn to ‘continuous deep sedation’ to keep official euthanasia figures low

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Campaign to legalize assisted suicide in S Africa

Campaign to legalise assisted suicide in SA - Mail & Guardian Online: A controversial campaign to legalise doctor-assisted suicide and active euthanasia was launched in Cape Town on Thursday, spearheaded by the Ethics Institute of South Africa (EthicsSA) and Dignity SA. The launch comes two weeks after the much-publicized return to South Africa of Dignity SA founder Sean Davison, following his five-month house arrest in New Zealand for assisting his aged mother to die.

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Push for the Right to Die Grows in the Netherlands

NY Times: Under the Netherlands’ 2002 Termination of Life on Request and Assisted Suicide Act, doctors may grant patients’ requests to die without fear of prosecution as long as they observe certain guidelines. The request must be made voluntarily by an informed patient who is undergoing suffering that is both lasting and unbearable. Doctors must also obtain the written affirmation of a second, independent physician that the case meets the requirements and report all such deaths to the authorities for review. . . . Mobile teams were needed because many general practitioners, either for moral reasons or perhaps because of uncertainty about the law, refused to help suffering patients to die after it had become too late to find another doctor.

Even in the Netherlands, some think Right to Die-NL may now be going too far. In addition to the mobile teams, the organization is among those pushing to give all people 70 years old and over the right to assisted death, even when they are not suffering from terminal illness. . . .

The Dutch patients’ organization N.P.V., a Christian group with 66,000 members, strongly criticizes the current application of the law, saying the practice of euthanasia has been extended to encompass patients with dementia and other conditions who may not by definition be competent to request help in dying.

Elise van Hoek-Burgerhart, a spokeswoman for the N.P.V., said in an e-mail that the idea of mobile euthanasia teams was “absurd,” and that there was no way the mobile-team doctors could get to know a patient in just a few days. Moreover, she added, research shows that 10 percent of requests for euthanasia from the elderly would disappear if palliative care were better. She also noted that the law requires review committees to sign off on every reported case of euthanasia, but that 469 cases from 2010 had still not been reviewed, meaning it was not clear how well doctors were adhering to the official guidelines.

Euthanasia on the rise in Netherlands and Belgium

News-Insurances: Ten years on from becaming the first countries to legalise euthanasia, the Netherlands and Belgium now provide assisted suicide to 4,000 people a year. While most are cancer sufferers, a new interpretation of the law is extending the treatment to those suffering from Alzheimer’s disease as well.

‘Mercy killing’ by lethal injection is allowed in the Netherlands for patients who are fully mentally alert but whose suffering has become “unbearable and unending” due to incurable disease. About a third of all the requests deemed to be “serious” are honoured by doctors, the ministry said. “The concept of ‘unbearable suffering’ has become much clearer” over the years, said Eric van Wijlick, policy maker at the Royal Dutch Society of Doctors.

Six roving medical teams — each with a doctor and a nurse — were recently set up to assist people to die at home when their own local doctors refused to give them lethal injections. Their intervention has already been requested 100 times since the teams were set up in March, De Jong said. But this has raised questions in the Dutch medical association.

Euthanasia has become the central point of conversation between a doctor and a patient who is suffering when it should be seen as a “last resort,” Wijlick said.

Belgium followed the Dutch example later in 2002 with a law legalising euthanasia after a long debate between Christian and secular parties. There were 1,133 mercy killings in Belgium in 2011, representing 1.0 percent of deaths in the country, its Commission for the Evaluation and Control of Euthanasia reported.

Euthanasia: a right to die

Euthanaisa: a right to die: Voice of Russia: President of Russia’s Patients Rights Protection League Alexander Saversky thinks that a commission of physicians and relatives must be set up in each individual case for an ultimate decision that must also be approved by an executive, for example, a governor.

"We will thereby assert that we have done everything possible for that person who experiences terrible suffering and that we cannot do more. Only then can euthanasia be considered as a last resort. If a patient can press the button himself, he should be given it. If not, several people should press the button simultaneously so that neither of them could blame each other. But there must be no doctors among those people."

Dmitry Aivazian, a lawyer with the Patients Rights Protection League echoes that there can be no uniform euthanasia rules and that each such case is unique and must be approached individually.

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Parisian pro-lifers unite in massive ‘flashmob’ against euthanasia

Parisian pro-lifers don clown garb and unite in massive ‘flashmob’ against euthanasia | LifeSiteNews.com: A pro-life event made the national news on French television Saturday evening when “Alliance Vita” organized a giant flashmob against euthanasia on the “Parvis des droits de l’homme” (“Human Rights Square”) at the Trocadéro in Paris. Seven hundred people, young and old, holding red hearts with the slogan “Caring, not killing,” filled the esplanade facing the Eiffel Tower and danced to the sounds of Paul McCartney’s Live and Let Die.

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Special treatment for Dutch royals

IBTimes: Dutch Prince Johan Friso, who was caught in an avalanche two weeks ago, was flown to a special clinic in London yesterday. Friso, who was buried in snow for 20 minutes, and had his heart stop beating for 50 minutes, has been in a coma due to major brain damage.

The Prince had been treated in an Innsbruck hospital in Austria since the accident. Doctors announced last week that they fear Friso will never wake up from the coma, and if he does, it may take years. The Royal Family released a statement yesterday stating that the hospital was chosen "on the recommendation of experts," and that it is the best facility for the Prince in his current state.

German media explained that this type of care would not have been possible in the Netherlands, because the only rehabilitation hospital, Leijpark Hospital in Tilburg, only treats patients who are younger than 25.

Related: Recent story on euthanasia in Holland

Promoting “Pro Life” Interpretation of Advance Directives in Europe

Wesley J. Smith: The Council of Europe has passed a resolution promoting advanced directives in the EU. Some are claiming this as a victory against voluntary euthanasia. Perhaps. But, I like this part the most because it explicitly instructs that a dependent patient’s care is not to be determined by general community values–often anti elderly and disabled–and how, in cases of doubt, advance directives are to be interpreted:

7.8. surrogate decisions that rely on general value judgements present in society should not be admissible and, in case of doubt, the decision must always be pro-life and the prolongation of life. From “Protecting Human Rights and Dignity by Taking Into Account Previously Expressed Wishes of Patients:”

Research reveals shifting attitudes towards euthanasia

Research reveals shifting attitudes towards euthanasia - The Irish Times - Thu, Dec 01, 2011: Anthony Ozimic of the UK’s Society for Protection of the Unborn Child said euthanasia was underpinned by a pessimism about the value of life and the ability of society to respond adequately to the sick and the vulnerable. More on the conference

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Doctors in the UK who provide medical reports for patients seeking assisted suicide abroad could be prosecuted

Christian Medical Comment: MDU warns that doctors who provide medical reports for patients seeking assisted suicide abroad could be prosecuted: The Medical Defence Union Journal has published a case study to emphasise the point that doctors who supply medical records to patients who are intending to commit suicide could well be prosecuted.

The article lists 16 criteria which make prosecution more likely in any case of assisted suicide. One of these is that ‘the suspect was acting in his or her capacity as a medical doctor, nurse, other healthcare professional, a professional carer [whether for payment or not], or as a person in authority, such as a prison officer, and the victim was in his or her care’

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AIDS hospice report

Farran family with 2 patients (images used with their permission)

Kyle and Heather Farran report about the Calvary Care Home in Richards Bay, South Africa: "As an amazing testimony to God’s grace and provision our first patient was admitted November 1st. Indeed, He 'is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think,' and we echo the words of Paul: 'to him be glory!' (Eph. 3:20-21).

"God has answered your many prayers by blessing us with wonderful caregivers that love the Lord. Heather trained caregivers for two weeks in patient care and I went over the Zulu Bible teaching material that we use (numerous times we have arrived to find the caregivers going through the material with the patients). Patti Buvia, who arrived in September, has been a much needed help in overseeing caregivers during the start-up process.

"It is exciting to see the patients receiving the love and care that they so desperately need. Most importantly, they are being taught the life giving message of the gospel. Each day I am teaching chronologically through the Bible, highlighting man’s need for a Savior and showing the necessity of repentance and faith in Christ. What a joy today to hear both women express that they understand the gospel and have faith in Christ!"

First euthanasia in Netherlands of severe Alzheimer’s patient performed

First euthanasia in Netherlands of severe Alzheimer’s patient performed | News | National Post: A woman with advanced Alzheimer’s disease has been euthanized in the Netherlands, a first in a country that requires patients to be fully mentally alert to request to die, activists said Wednesday.

The 64-year-old woman died in March after being sick “for a very long time,” said a spokesman for the Right to Die-NL group. She had insisted “for several years” that she wanted to be euthanized, added spokesman Walburg de Jong.

Comment by Wesley J. Smith: "Doctors have been euthanizing patients who never asked to be killed almost from the inception of the country’s euthanasia license, and nothing meaningful is done about it."

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Calvary Care Home dedicated October 2nd!

Missionary Kyle Farran reports: 

"Last week marked an exciting landmark for Calvary Care Home in Richards Bay, South Africa. On October 2nd Calvary Baptist Church held a special dedication service, committing the work to the Lord and thanking Him for His provision. The building is now complete; all that remains are some finishing touches (installing mirrors & paper towel holders, altering curtains and donated sheets, etc.) Patti Buvia arrived from the States on September 22nd to help us during the first year the Care Home is open.

"We have also hired four caregivers who Heather [Farran] will start training next week. One of the caregivers is pastor Clement’s wife. Needless to say, we are thrilled to have her be a part of the ministry. Thank you for praying as we searched for the right workers for Calvary Care Home. All of the caregivers have come by personal referrals and we are so grateful for who God has brought us. Lord willing, we hope to begin taking our first patients at the end of October! Truly, God 'is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think' (Eph. 3:20)." Learn more

Japanese Seniors: Amazing example of self-sacrifice

Japanese Seniors: Send Us To Damaged Nuclear Plant : NPR: They are all retirees, and they have all volunteered for a single, dangerous mission: to replace younger workers at the badly damaged Fukushima nuclear plant. The Skilled Veterans Corps for Fukushima consists of more than 500 seniors who have signed up for a job that has been called courageous — and suicidal.

Kazuko Sasaki, a 72-year-old grandmother, is one of those ready to serve. "My generation built these nuclear plants. So we have to take responsibility for them. We can't dump this on the next generation," she says.

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44 UK assisted suicide cases since guidelines published

44 assisted suicide cases since CPS guidelines published - Telegraph: More than 40 people have killed themselves with the help of their friends or family since new guidelines were introduced in 2010 that effectively decriminalised assisted suicide, official figures obtained by The Daily Telegraph have disclosed.

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Doctors should always deal with euthanasia

DutchNews.nl - Doctors should always deal with euthanasia: KNMG: Doctors with moral objections to euthanasia should always refer patients to another doctor for help, according to new guidelines drawn up by the national doctors association. In addition, euthanasia requests should always be taken seriously, even if someone has simply had enough of life without being terminally ill. A string of complaints relating to old age, for example, could be grounds for mercy killing, even if they are not terminal. But no-one should be helped to die simply because they are old or fed up with living.

Download the doctors association's position paper

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Assisted suicide could be 'legalised' in groundbreaking case

Assisted suicide could be 'legalised' in groundbreaking case | Society | The Guardian: The case of a stroke-paralyzed man named Martin could lead to a court ruling that he has the right to help not only from a paid professional to assist him get to Switzerland, but also to the services of a palliative care doctor in the UK to ease his death, should he decide to end his life by refusing food and drink.

Such a ruling would dramatically alter the current options for seriously ill and severely disabled people who wish to end their own lives in the UK. "There would be no more planes to Switzerland," said his lawyer. "Why would you bother?"

Related: Man's wife refuses to help him die

“I Wanted To Be A Doctor To Help Patients, Not Kill Them”

A Dutch doctor who has twice euthanized patients complains in the British Medical Journal of the stress that killing  causes her:

Although as a doctor I favour euthanasia, as a person I find it hard to perform. It is a great burden on my personal life and causes me extreme stress. The days before I performed my second (and so far last) euthanasia were very emotional. . . . There is also the stress of doing it right and waiting to see whether the committee decides you abided by the rules and will not prosecute.

Euthanasia law grants a patient the right to determine what is and is not psychologically and physically bearable. As a doctor I sometimes feel caught between my desire to do well and the fact that I have to be the means to a patient’s self determination. I wanted to be a doctor to help patients, not to kill them. 

Allena M Silvius general practitioner, Leyden, Netherlands

Wesley J.Smith comments, "[T]his letter illustrates a point rarely made: Euthanasia/assisted suicide isn’t ultimately about “patient choice,” but that of the doctor. If he or thinks your life not worth living, you get the poison. If not – of if it upsets the doctor’s “personal life” too much – you don’t."