Cancer pioneer Clive Deverall’s death puts spotlight on voluntary euthanasia laws – ABC Online

Updated March 22, 2017 20:08:10

The debate over voluntary euthanasia has been brought into sharp focus following the death of a highly respected veteran of Western Australia's healthcare sector.

The former executive director of the WA Cancer Council, 75-year-old Clive Deverall, took his life on March 11 after suffering for two decades from a rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

At his funeral on Monday, his widow Noreen Fynn told family and friends he had left a note that said "suicide is legal, euthanasia is not".

Ms Fynn told the ABC it was "no accident" Mr Deverall took his life on the day of the WA election.

"It was a message. If the legislation [to allow voluntary euthanasia] had been place, I don't think he would have taken his life," she said.

"I truly think that if he had had options, he would not have gone on Saturday."

Mr Deverall served as head of the Cancer Council WA for more than 20 years and worked tirelessly to set up palliative care services, as president of Palliative Care WA.

Described as "fearless and irrepressible", he lobbied governments and fought the tobacco and asbestos industries.

"Clive Deverall was a colossus," friend and former colleague Terry Slevin told the ABC.

"He was a pioneer of cancer action from public health and prevention, support for patients and moving into palliative care. His compassion for the people around him was legendary."

But over recent years, Mr Deverall's attention turned to assisted dying laws and he joined Go Gentle, a lobby group set up by broadcaster Andrew Denton.

"When the former president of Palliative Care WA takes his life in a public place in order to end his irreversible suffering and to protect his family from the same, it could hardly be more significant," Mr Denton told the ABC.

"It gives the lie to the line trotted out by politicians who oppose assisted dying laws, and their fellow-travellers in the medical profession, that 'palliative care can take care of everything'. It's not true.

"Clive, who knew the realities better than anyone, because he was living and dying them, knew it was not true too."

Mr Deverall told the ABC in an interview last October that palliative care was not the answer for between 4 and 8 per cent of patients.

"Certainly I still embrace what palliative care stands for, but even with their clinical guidelines, they avoid the elephant in the room which is the very end stage patients where symptoms cannot be controlled," Mr Deverall said.

"Patients in that distressed state, those patients should be offered voluntary euthanasia.

"The take home message is that we have a cruel law at the moment that is prejudicial to the interests and wishes of patients, that needs to be changed.

"The lack of compassionate law in this state will force some people into taking their own lives in a fairly brutal way."

Mr Deverall supported the campaign for assisted dying laws by Perth GP Alida Lancee.

Dr Lancee has been the subject of a police murder investigation since she admitted providing an injection to an 80-year-old patient with end-stage emphysema.

At the state election, Dr Lancee ran against former WA premier Colin Barnett in his seat of Cottesloe, advocating a freedom of choice end of life bill which she expects will be tabled either later this year or early next year.

She said Mr Deverall's support had been immeasurable.

"He has given a voice to all those people he has witnessed who have suffered unnecessarily and have not been given the option that, unfortunately, he was denied also," she said.

"But we will fight to the end until sense prevails."

Mr Slevin said his friend had struggled with his disease and the side-effects of his treatment for 20 years.

He described Mr Deverall as "an extraordinarily energetic, fun but dedicated soul" and "an extraordinary rogue and a scoundrel".

"You knew when you were around Clive that you were living life to the full," he said.

"Clive had passions, Clive had beliefs and he never stepped back from those.

"But I think it's really important for people to understand the extraordinary achievements that he made across the board.

"I would be sad to see it focus just on one specific issue and particularly the last few days of his life."

Topics: euthanasia, death, cancer, wa

First posted March 22, 2017 15:28:43

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Cancer pioneer Clive Deverall's death puts spotlight on voluntary euthanasia laws - ABC Online