Assisted suicide right or wrong

Arthurgray50@blu · 08-12-2011, 18:49

www.thesun.co.uk I refer to an article that was in The Sun and on Tv news concerning a British woman, that had to go abroad to commit suicide due to her illness.

And the person that appeared on Tv to say it was wrong and that she should have allowed the disease to go the full way for death.

The woman had Lung and Liver cancer, and due to the ignorance of politicians that won't allow this to be carried out in this country.

Words fail me on this subject, as if it is shown and proven that you will suffer death due to your illness, and you do not have the will to live, due to pain, then you should have that right to end your life - but in law you cannot do it.

There are many people who want to decide that the pain is so bad, that they cannot cope anymore, so that there decision is the end.

I have seen many people in my life that they cannot cope, but cannot do anything about it due to the law. I don't know what many members believe in, I feel that if anyone feels that this is the only way of going, then they should be allowed to do it, and not have to go abroad to do it.

Pierre · 08-12-2011, 19:18

I think it should be allowed.

Obviously you have to be very careful and in todays blame culture, especially so.

But if I was unfortunate enough to find myself in those circumstances, I would want to leave this world on my terms and leave my family with the right memories.

I speak from personal experience as someone who lost his father to lung cancer whilst I was still a child, when he passed he was not how I would like to remember him.

Sirius · 08-12-2011, 19:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu

www.thesun.co.uk I refer to an article that was in The Sun and on Tv news concerning a British woman, that had to go abroad to commit suicide due to her illness.

And the person that appeared on Tv to say it was wrong and that she should have allowed the disease to go the full way for death.

The woman had Lung and Liver cancer, and due to the ignorance of politicians that won't allow this to be carried out in this country.

Words fail me on this subject, as if it is shown and proven that you will suffer death due to your illness, and you do not have the will to live, due to pain, then you should have that right to end your life - but in law you cannot do it.

There are many people who want to decide that the pain is so bad, that they cannot cope anymore, so that there decision is the end.

I have seen many people in my life that they cannot cope, but cannot do anything about it due to the law. I don't know what many members believe in, I feel that if anyone feels that this is the only way of going, then they should be allowed to do it, and not have to go abroad to do it.

I have always said we should have this law in place. We should have the right to assistance from loved ones or medical practitioners should there be a medical reason to end your life.

LondonRoad · 08-12-2011, 19:25

Assisted Suicide should be allowed provided there are the necessary checks and procedures in place.

It's a no-brainer for anybody who has had to witness a loved one fade away, losing life and losing dignity.

denphone · 08-12-2011, 19:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by LondonRoad

Assisted Suicide should be allowed provided there are the necessary checks and procedures in place.

It's a no-brainer for anybody who has had to witness a loved one fade away, losing life and losing dignity.

l have to agree with a lot of what you said orovided everything is done the right and proper way.

Sirius · 08-12-2011, 19:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by LondonRoad

Assisted Suicide should be allowed provided there are the necessary checks and procedures in place.

It's a no-brainer for anybody who has had to witness a loved one fade away, losing life and losing dignity.

I have,

It took 4 months of watching my father slowly lose his ability to speak, recognise his family and to control his bodily functions because of a stroke, He finally found peace because of pneumonia

Arthurgray50@blu · 08-12-2011, 19:34

When l lost my father some 45 years ago, this idea was never thought of, but he was suffering cancer, and to see him at the end in such a bad way, l firmly believe that he would have asked that question.

To keep him alive, he was on at least 15 tablets per day, and to see him popping those things, always made us sad.

He was that bad when he was passing, the hospice gave him a drug to kill the pain, there are many people today that are in the same position, and it should not be politician that should decide what happens.

Politicians set the laws of this country, and they should change it, so that if TWO doctors decide there is no medical power that will keep that person alive, then it should be the person plus the family that should decide.

08-12-2011, 19:39

should be allowed ,but knowing our governments if they ever get around to debating this and passing laws to allow it,it will be poorly regulated and mis managed .At the moment i think they should allow people to acompany relatives abroard to established clinics without fear of prosecution as a starter

Ignitionnet · 08-12-2011, 21:30

The state has no right to force people who want to die to live.

We should have properly regulated ways to do this similar to how Dignitas do it.

http://www.dignitas.ch/index.php?opt...mid=60&lang=en

Quote:

DIGNITAS procures the necessary medication for this, a lethal, fast-acting and completely painless barbiturate which is dissolved in ordinary drinking water. After taking it, the patient falls asleep within a few minutes, after which sleep passes peacefully and completely painlessly into death.

After an in-depth evaluation of the member’s written request and medical information, and following at least two face-to-face meetings with the member (which allows the DIGNITAS doctor to satisfy him- or herself that the member meets the pre-conditions for the desired accompanied suicide) the prescription may be issued to DIGNITAS.

Quote:

Prerequisites for the preparation of an accompanied suicide

In order to access the service of an accompanied suicide, someone has to:

be a member of DIGNITAS, and
be of sound judgement, and
possess a minimum level of physical mobility (sufficient to self-administer the drug).

Because the co-operation of a Swiss medical doctor (physician) is absolutely vital in obtaining the required drug, further prerequisites mean that the person must have:

a disease which will lead to death (terminal illness), and/or
an unendurable incapacitating disability, and/or
unbearable and uncontrollable pain.

In addition to meeting the prerequisites set out above, the member must submit a formal request for the preparation of an accompanied suicide to DIGNITAS. This request must comprise:
A personal letter to DIGNITAS, preferably typed, in which the member asks for an accompanied suicide with the help of DIGNITAS. The letter must state the reason(s) for making the request and must describe the member’s present physical condition and how it affects them.

A biographical sketch / CV, also describing the member’s situation with respect to their next of kin – whether and to what extent they support the member’s wish for an accompanied suicide, and whether the member might be accompanied by members of their family and/or close friends during the trip to Switzerland. DIGNITAS and the doctors assessing a request use this information to get a clear picture of the member’s personal background and family circumstances.

One or more up-to-date medical reports together with two or three older ones. These reports must provide substantial information on the case history, diagnosis, and - if possible - actual and suggested treatment / measures as well as prognosis. The most recent report must not be more than three to four months old, and all reports must be clearly legible. Pictures, such as x-ray films etc., and laboratory analyses should not be included.

Substantial checks and balances, and the person must be able to administer themselves the dose through a glass of water.

If done in this manner I've absolutely no issues with it, obviously there must be this level of substantial checks and balances.

LondonRoad · 08-12-2011, 22:03

It should be a human right. There is no dignified way of dying with many illnesses.

We kowtow to the human rights of the despised paedophiles and other prisoners yet we can't allow good and decent people, what should be a basic human right, of dying with dignity.

rogerdraig · 08-12-2011, 22:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by LondonRoad

Assisted Suicide should be allowed provided there are the necessary checks and procedures in place.

It's a no-brainer for anybody who has had to witness a loved one fade away, losing life and losing dignity.

I have done so now on 5 occasions ( grandfather father close family friend my father in law and grandfather in law )and I still don’t think this should be brought into law

as it stands very few get taken to court and those that do in the vast majority of cases are let off with minimal or no sentence BUT that check is needed

It would be far too easy for unscrupulous family members to persuade elderly relatives that this is what they should do

I would make an exception if the person helping was willing to forgo any financial gain they would gain through the persons passing

Also I would do is make it harder for people to complain about a Doctor giving pain relief that may in the course of reliving pain cause death which imho is why this subject is being brought forward more often now

candy1567 · 09-12-2011, 00:15

although i agree in principal with assisted suicide, and i would want the right to be able to do this should the need arise with myself, i have experienced this from the other side of the coin.

A few years ago i lost my youngest child to bone cancer she was 9yrs old, and it was a slow horrible painful death that took 5 months to take her life, after her last chemo treatment.

Even now i really dont know how my family and I got through it, but i can honestly say that i dont think that i could have given the consent to end her life, mind u i say that now but most prob at the time i would have done.

But where do u draw the line, there are so many different variations on how illness effects individuals and how ppl cope with them, and we all have different perceptions of wat a quality of life is. I would be mortified if my brain was active but my body ceased to function, but there are many who live like this on a day to day basis.

Wat i dont agree with is having to go to court and a judge who is a stranger and knows nothing of the situation will make a ruling as to whether u live or die, using evidence from medical professionals who have taken an oath to save lives, regardless of the patients wishes.

The point am trying to make is that ppl should have a choice.

Juliex

TheDaddy · 09-12-2011, 02:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ignitionnet

The state has no right to force people who want to die to live.

We should have properly regulated ways to do this similar to how Dignitas do it.

http://www.dignitas.ch/index.php?opt...mid=60&lang=en

Substantial checks and balances, and the person must be able to administer themselves the dose through a glass of water.

If done in this manner I've absolutely no issues with it, obviously there must be this level of substantial checks and balances.

If Dignitas is the benchmark I'm against it.

Scores of urns containing human ashes have been found dumped in a lake near the Swiss suicide clinic Dignitas.

One estimate puts the number discovered 30ft down on the bed of Lake Zurich at 300 or more.

Very dignified, what ever the reason and I wonder how long it'll be before we have the depressed being put down like in Holland or Switzerland.

Swiss suicide clinic Dignitas is under investigation over claims that it ignored a patient's distressed mental condition to give him drugs to end his own life.

Strict assisted suicide laws in Switzerland state that each patient must be of sound mind and able to understand the consequences of their actions.

But now details have emerged of a patient who was allegedly given a DIY suicide kit prescribed by a Zurich gynaeologist despite suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...icide-kit.html

Ignitionnet · 09-12-2011, 08:01

Just as well I was referring to those specific checks and balances rather than holding the entire clinic and everything it does up as an example.

So long as those are followed all is, in my opinion, fine.

Errors, omissions and outright failures accepted.

danielf · 09-12-2011, 08:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

<snip>

Very dignified, what ever the reason and I wonder how long it'll be before we have the depressed being put down like in Holland or Switzerland.

<snip>

I can't speak for Switzerland, but I'd be very surprised if you could come up with a credible example of depressed people being 'put down' in Holland.