Category Archives: Euthanasia

Herewith the text of an oral submission I made to the Health Select Committee inquiry on voluntary euthanasia today, Monday, February 13 2017

by David Barber, of Wellington dbarber@clear.net.nz

I thank the committee for the opportunity to make a personal submission on voluntary euthanasia which I believe to be one of the most critical issues facing society today.

I wish to speak on only one aspect the need for provision of an end-of-life directive to be included in legislation allowing physician-assisted dying.

Why do I feel so strongly on this issue? My wife was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers Disease at the age of 48. Two years later, I had to make arrangements for her to attend a day care centre so that I could continue working.

As her condition deteriorated I could no longer care for her and at the age of 52 she was admitted to a secure unit at Porirua Hospital. She died aged 55 after falling and breaking a hip. She never recovered from the resulting replacement surgery.

We had been married 33 years, had three children and happily survived the stresses and strains of moving a family to and from five countries dictated by my work.

She was a strong, capable, independent and proud woman and her rapid decline with its consequent loss of dignity distressed her, me and our children enormously.

Her advanced Alzheimers meant she was incontinent, unable to feed and dress herself, or recognise friends and family. A pioneering female journalist and a feminist before the word became fashionable, she could no longer write, read, or take part in the social intercourse that made her a popular friend to hundreds of people we met around the world.

She spent her days in Porirua endlessly walking the confined corridors of the secure unit it was a prison of necessity because while Alzheimers patients pose no threat to society, they wander and have to be locked up for their own safety.

That was her unbearable suffering a phrase you are hearing much about.

I knew Frances well and I know that she did not want to live in that condition and would have welcomed the ability to choose an end to her suffering had she retained her mental faculties. She could have lived in misery for another 30 years or so - an unbearable prospect for anyone - and her early demise was a blessing for her and us all.

I submit that an End-of-Life Directive requesting a physicians help to end suffering if a person developed severe dementia should be included in far-sighted legislation.

It will, of course, have to be signed and witnessed before the onset of dementia with all the safeguards one expects to be included in the new law permitting physician-assisted dying.

I have signed an Advance Directive for Health Care declaring that if I develop Alzheimers, a terminal illness or severe degenerative disease, cannot recognise my family and am mentally incompetent to accept or decline life sustaining treatment I should not be resuscitated, placed on life support or fed by conventional or artificial means.

When the law is changed, I would want these provisions superseded by a request for a physician to end my life so that I could die peacefully in the company of friends and family rather than have to resort to a lonely suicide to end my suffering.

Spending years with dementia is the biggest fear of many people it is feared more than cancer, for example - and I suggest that anyone who has experienced the horror of watching a loved one suffer the ravages of that most terrible of diseases would prefer a merciful release.

I believe a law change is inevitable because the majority of people want it 66% are in favour, according to a survey published in the New Zealand Medical Journal last month.

I want to stress that people like me are talking only of voluntary euthanasia for those who want the choice to end unbearable suffering. I hope that stories like mine will help convince the committee to recommend a compassionate new law that upholds the human right to die, as well as to live, as we wish.

I would like to finish with an anecdote about a young American soldier caught in a hail of machine gun fire as his unit landed on a Normandy beach on D-Day in 1944.

The bullets tore through his chest, shot off an arm and blew away most of his face. His pain was unimaginable; his fate obvious. He begged his mates to end his suffering with a bullet.

Is there anyone in this room who would have denied him ?

Scoop Media

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Oral submission on voluntary euthanasia | Scoop News - Scoop.co.nz (press release)

GEOFF Provest tries to remember only the good parts but there's a small piece of him that can't forget the way it ended.

The Tweed MP, like many in favour of voluntary euthanasia, has been forced to sit by and watch someone he loved - in his case his father, Sidney Keith Provest - very slowly and very painfully leave this world.

It's a story the Bowraville-born man finds difficult to tell and because of this is one not many have heard.

But with a draft Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill in planning and debate due in the NSW Parliament's spring session, the MP has opened up - not to sway people one way or the other but to share with his electorate why he supports the controversial option.

The MP's father was a teacher and a principal.

An ordered man, he wore a suit and tie and was part of what is now considered the 'old brigade'.

He was a man who valued his intellect and, somewhat ironically, in the end a mental illness led to his death.

The Provest family watched as across several years their leading man was robbed of everything important to him: his mind, the order that underpinned his life, and even himself, before he was eventually moved and spent his final 10months in hospital.

"His quality of life wasn't there," the Tweed MP said.

"It affected my mother and had an impact on her. He just suffered a great deal. It really was heartbreaking.

"In the end the doctors came to us and said, 'We're just going to keep upping the morphine here, but you've got to bear in mind eventually the organs shut down.'"

It took three months but they eventually did. In that time, Mr Provest and his two brothers worried about their mother, who was in her 70s.

They talked about how if there'd been an option to end his pain and take away their mother's burden, they would have taken it.

"My father didn't want to be here," he said.

"He was in and out of consciousness, he was soiling himself in the bed, he had catheters in - it was dreadful, there was no quality of life."

It's the quality of life part the MP will focus on when deciding to support the bill - not only of the patients but those who must watch on.

Excerpt from:

MP's personal story behind euthanasia support | Queensland Times - The Queensland Times

Pet food company Evangers is recalling five batches of its Hunk of Beef dog food after one batch tested positive for pentobarbital, a drug thats used in euthanasia as well as for other medical purposes.

At least one dog, a pug in Washington state named Talula, died after consuming the food.

Nikki Mael, Talulas owner, told KATU last month that her four dogs all became ill shortly after she fed them the Hunk of Beef canned food on New Years Eve. Talula died at the emergency vet, and a second dog, Tito, continued to suffer from seizures after going back home with Mael.

Evangers launched an investigation into possible food contamination, and ultimately detected pentobarbital a barbiturate used in the euthanasia of animals in one batch of the product. As a result, the company announced on Feb. 3 that they would be recalling all batches produced the same week.

The recall affects Hunk of Beef products with lot numbers starting with 1816E03HB, 1816E04HB, 1816E06HB, 1816E07HB, and 1816E13HB, with a June 2020 expiration date. It applies to products in Washington, California, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. (Read more information about the recallhere.)

Evangers also said they are paying for Maels vet bills are making a donation to a local shelter in honor of Talula the Pug.

The companys statement indicates that they suspect meat from a euthanized animal likely ended up in the food, causing the presence of pentobarbital.

Though pentobarbital has shown up in pet food before, those cases have involved pet food with ingredients sourced from rendering plants that grind up a slew of animal carcasses from a variety of sources. Evangers states that their Hunk of Beef product contains only beef, and does not include any ingredients from rendering plants.

However, the company notes in their statement that while the use of pentobarbital is tightly regulated, there is absolutely no regulation that requires a veterinarian to mark a euthanized animal to prevent it from entering the food chain. As a result of the contamination, Evangers terminated their relationship with the beef supplier that provided the contaminated meat.

Excerpt from:

Pug Dies After Eating Dog Food Contaminated With Euthanasia Drug - Huffington Post

Spains Congress of Deputies is debating new euthanasia legislation, as right-to-die lobbyists intensify their campaign in the country.

Unidos Podemos (UP), a political coalition of the the Communist Party and the major party Podemos, presented a bill to Congress in mid-January that would permit assisted dying under certain circumstances.

The Unidos Podemos bill proposes that terminally ill patients over the age of 18, and also adults suffering from unbearable psychological or physiological pain, be allowed to access medical assistance in dying.

There is also another bill shortly to be registered in Congress by representatives from Catalonias regional parliament. Late last month the Catalonian parliament resolved to move a federal bill -- similar to the UP proposal -- that would modify the federal penal code to permit medical assistance in dying.

Human freedom lasts until the end of life, said Isabel Alonso, the president of the Right to a Dignified Death Association, which is behind the Catalonian motion.

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New euthanasia debate in Spain - BioEdge

A group of 220 Dutch doctors took out an advertisement in NRC on Friday to show that they are against granting euthanasia to advanced dementia patients. The doctors believe it's wrong to give euthanasia based on a statement which the patient can no longer confirm.

"Our moral reluctance to end the life of a defenseless human being is too big", the ad reads. Among the signers are also doctors specialized in helping patients die.

The doctors want to restart the conversation about euthanasia for severely demented people, according to NOS. Since2015 there were three cases of euthanasiagranted to patients with advanced dementia. Initiator and geriatric doctor Boudewijn Chabot wants a court to decide whether these cases were carefully handled according to the rules.

The rules for euthanasia for elderly people with dementia were adjusted in December 2015. The Ministries of Public Health and Security and Justice changed the euthanasia guidelines to state that euthanasia can be granted to advanced dementia patients if they made a written declaration with this wish while they were still lucid. Before this adaption, a patient had to express the desire for death himself. But this is no longer required.

A Dutch doctor was recently rebuked for granting euthanasia to a dementia patient, the first time in Dutch history that this happened. The Regional Review Committee concluded that the patient's wish for euthanasia was not clear enough.

Read more here:

Dutch doctors against euthanasia for advanced dementia patients - NL Times

Canada legalized euthanasia in June 2016, declaring assisted suicide a humane way to end the suffering of already dying patients. Opponents warned it wouldnt be a far jump from legalizing euthanasia to manipulating patients into believing they have an obligation to die and stop draining medical system resources. Eight months later, researchers at the University of Calgary have released a study extolling assisted suicides cost benefits: If Canadians adopt medical assistance in dying in a manner and extent similar to those of the Netherlands and Belgium, we can expect a reduction in healthcare spending in the range of tens of millions of dollars per year. The authors of the study denied any suggestion cost should factor into end-of life-decisions, despite the obvious connection. We are not suggesting medical assistance in dying as a measure to cut costs, they wrote in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. But critics note the utilitarian view of euthanasia, that it can benefit the general public, gives society a stake in the death of vulnerable people. I cant imagine anything more dangerous than that, Wesley J. Smith, senior fellow at the Discovery Institutes Center on Human Exceptionalism and a consultant for the Patients Rights Council, told me. Bioethicists already link the medical cost savings of euthanasia with organ harvesting. A recent article in the Journal of Medical Ethics suggested euthanasia in Canada has the potential to provide organs for transplantation. The article even suggested it would be acceptable if the organ harvest was the cause of death, Smith noted in National Review. In the Netherlands and Belgium, people who choose euthanasia because of disability or mental illness are being targeted as potential organ donors, Smith said. Such thinking exploits vulnerable people worried about being a burden and losing their dignity. This is not just a cold issue of choice, this involves deep emotions, this involves deep fear, Smith said. Canadas laws legalize medical aid in dying for any seriously ill or disabled adult whose condition is incurable and who is in an advanced state of irreversible decline in capability. Doctors must determine no alternatives acceptable to the patient can relieve the suffering and the patient has to believe the physical or psychological suffering is intolerable. The patients natural death needs to be reasonably foreseeable but the law does not require a prognosis specifying the time period within which death is expected. Smith isnt certain the United States will follow the euthanasia prescription of its Northern neighbor. So far, five states have legalized physician-assisted suicide, which allows a doctor to provide the means for death, usually prescription medication, but the patient must administer it. Canada's Medical Assistance in Dying law takes physician-assisted suicide a step further and allows practitioners to administer the means of death for patients who have requested it but are physically unable to do it themselves. At least in the United States we still dont know what the outcome is going to be, Smith said. Assisted suicide advocates are far less candid in the United States than they are elsewhere precisely because the United States is still up for grabs on this issue. (EDITORS NOTE Julie Borg writes for WORLD News Service, a division of WORLD Magazine, worldmag.com, based in Asheville. Used with permission.)

More here:

Canadian study touts euthanasia's cost 'benefit' - Brnow

By Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.

Caroline Dhavernas stars in the new Global TV show Mary Kills People. (CORUS ENTERTAINMENT)

The local radio station that I listen to is playing a commercial for Mary Kills People, a six-part drama airing on Global Television in Canada.

People have contacted me wondering what to do about Mary Kills People. We are disgusted by media outlets which insist on promoting euthanasia and assisted suicide without having the honesty and professionalism to equally promote programs that offers an alternative point of view.

I have personally not wasted my time watching Mary Kills People. If you have watched the show email your assessment of Mary Kills People to: info@epcc.ca.

I urge all of our supporters to contact the CRTC [Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission] and demand equal programming.

This is not the first time Global has aired a program promoting euthanasia. In 2012 Global aired: Taking Mercy, a program that promoted eugenic euthanasia. It featured Robert Latimer, who was convicted of killing his daughter who had cerebral palsy; Annette Corriveau, who had two disabled adult children whom she wanted euthanized; and pro-euthanasia ethicist Arthur Schaefer.

At that time, the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition and the Council of Canadians with Disabilities responded with strong opposition to portraying the lives of people with significant disabilities as life unworthy of life.

Global needs to do a series on people with disabilities who live fulfilling lives, or people with a terminal illness who through effective symptom management and social supports live a fulfilling life until their death, or people who had a terminal illness who survived. We need real stories that provide hope; we need stories that promote caring not killing.

Programs that portray euthanasia as heroic, caring, and maybe even daring act, are promoting euthanasia. These programs dont show us the real life circumstances of a person who is lonely and afraid of suffering, and feel that they have no real alternative, these programs portray euthanasia as an act done by strong independent people. People we should emulate.

I am also concerned about the contagion effect connected to programs that promote killing.

Recently Liz Carr, a famous British actress who is also a leader of the disability rights group Not Dead Yet UK, produced a successful musical opposing assisted suicide called: Assisted Suicide: The Musical. Carr, who is an incredible comedian, proves that opposing assisted suicide can also be entertaining.

Editors note. This appeared in a slightly different form on Mr. Schadenbergs blog.

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Mary Kills People Promotes Euthanasia - National Right to Life News

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (ABC4News) - A bill that would end gas chamber euthanasia in Utah passed a committee hearing on Tuesday and will now head to the Senate floor.

Animal rights groups and animal lovers are praising the advancement of Senate Bill 56, as the Senate Government Operations Committee voted by a vote of 6 to 2 in favor of the Animal Shelter Amendment that would ban gas chamber euthanasia in the state of Utah.

Senators David Hinkins(R) -District 27 and Daniel Thatcher (R) - District 12, were the only two to vote against the bill.

The bill would require all animal shelters to move away from the practice of using gas chambers to euthanize animals and instead useeuthanasia by injection (EBI). Utah is one of four states that continues to practice gas chamber euthanasia. According to the Humane Society of Utah there are over 50 shelters in the state and about 5 of them continue the practice.

"A lot of these shelters that are maintaining the gas chamber, you have to look at the long term cost of purchasing new ones, when they break down -- repairing, and there's no state regulation to maintain or calibrate these shelter gas chambers," says Deann Shepherd with the Humane Society of Utah.

The Humane Society says gas chambers pose more of a threat to humans than the practice of lethal injection. They say gas chambers use carbon monoxide and there is no regulation or oversight for these devices. They say there have been cases where employees and/or veterinarians have gotten sick or were killed because of their exposure to the gas. They say with EBI the animal is unconscious within 3-5 seconds and death occurs within 3-5 minutes.

During the committee hearing yesterday opponents expressedconcerns that EBI would cost more than gas chamber euthanasia.

"'Cause I do have some counties and cities that are saying this could be a hardship, so if they could let me know so I could get animal control some numbers," said Senator Hinkins (R) - District 27.

The Human Society says there is research that has shown it costs less to use EBI than the gas chamber.

"So, if there's any additional expenses of getting the equipment and training then there is help to get that but, we offer free training at the Humane Society," says Shepherd.

The Humane Society says there are grants that can offset the cost of purchasing any equipment that might be necessary to use EBI. They, along with other organizations, also provide free training for personnel who will be administering lethal injections.

Opponents are also concernedabout the safety of staff using EBI when handling more aggressive animals.

"We offer training for free," says Shepherd. "We want the personnel well trained to handle these animals and here's the key, you just sedate them. There's no more handling of the animal to sedate them than to move them into a gas chamber."

The Humane Society says the research, equipment and training are all there to help move all shelters away from gas chamber and end the practice in the state. Previous efforts for a bill to end gas chamber euthanasia have failed in the past but proponents are optimistic this time around.

Tuesday morning before the committee hearing over 100 animal lovers and activists gathered in the Capitol Rotunda to show their support and encourage legislatorsto vote in favor of the bill.

The Human Society of Utah also cited examples in Davis County and Sandy City where they say they have seen the benefits of EBI after moving away from using gas chambers to euthanize animals.

The bill will now head to the full Senate and is expected to be taken up for discussion sometime next week.

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Bill to Ban Gas Chamber Euthanasia Moves to the Senate - Good4Utah

A Wheeling-based pet food-maker is voluntarily recalling some of its dog food over concerns that it might contain a sedative used to euthanize animals. Several dogs in Washington state became sick on New Year's Eve after eating the food, and one died, Evanger's Dog & Cat Food Co. said.

The pug, named Talula, died after consuming Hunk of Beef dog food, according to Evanger's website. A subsequent toxicology report found the drug pentobarbital, a sedative, was found in the dog's stomach. The owner's three other pugs were sick after consuming the food, but survived.

Evanger's, a family-owned business, has severed its relationship with a beef supplier and promised to guarantee the safety of its products in the future.

After a social media firestorm, Evanger's corporate secretary Brett Sher and his twin sister Chelsea responded with a nearly five-minute apologetic video posted on the Evanger's website explaining what they think went wrong. They promised "transparency" as they continued to investigate and encouraged concerned customers to call them directly with questions or comments.

Evanger's also sent random samples of all of the beef used in Hunk of Beef to be tested for pentobarbitol contamination.

"We can't have bad products in the marketplace, that will come back and destroy us," said Brett Sher. "My own dog eats Hunk of Beef." The product, created 13 years ago, is essentially steak in a can for dogs a chunk of lean beef that has been cooked and canned.

In the video, the Evanger's officials said that after further research, they learned that pentobarbital can be found in other dry pet foods if they are made with euthanized cow meat. Further, they said, once an animal has been euthanized, there are no regulations requiring veterinarians to tag the meat as such, allowing the meat to find its way into the animal-food chain.

The supplier likely didn't know that the euthanized beef was in its supply, according Joel Sher, vice president of Evanger's.

The company says it's aiming to use this experience to push for more oversight and regulation of how slaughtered animals make their way into the animal-food stream.

On its website, the company also shared a 1998 FDA study that found that 50 percent of the 90 pet food brands tested contained trace amounts of pentobarbital. "They knew about it, but there were no laws and regulations to stop that happening," Brett Sher said.

"We were unaware of the problem of pentobarbital in the pet food industry because it is most pervasive in dry foods that source most of their ingredients from rendering plants, unlike Evanger's, which mainly manufactures canned foods that would not have any rendered materials in its supply chain," Evanger's owners wrote on their website. "All of our raw materials are sourced from USDA-inspected facilities, and many of them are suppliers with whom we have had long-standing relationships."

Results from an independent lab found no contaminants in its Hunk of Beef product, Evanger's said. But further testing should indicate in the next week or two if traces of pentobarbital were in certain lots of the food.

The Shers said they paid veterinary bills for the pugs in Washington state and made a donation to a local animal shelter.

The incident highlights how pet owners increasingly are feeding pets as they feed themselves, with food that is fresh, often local and allergen-free, with few ingredients and no additives. It's lead to a stream of high-end pet food products such as Hunk of Beef, which retails for $3 to $4 per can more costly than a can of beef stew meant for humans.

The market for fresh food for animals has grown in the past decade, according to Joel Sher, leading the company to produce products such as chicken thighs and chicken wings in a can to keep up with competitors who offer minimally processed kibble and straight-from-the-fridge pet food made from vegetables and meat.

"People want to treat their pets like family," Joel Sher said. "It's human nature, people want to feel their pet is human."

An earlier version of this story incorrectly said pentobarbitol had been found in the pet food. Testing has not yet been completed.

crshropshire@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @corilyns

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Wheeling-based Evanger's recalls dog food over fears it may contain euthanasia drug - Chicago Tribune

Imagining a future with compulsory euthanasia MercatorNet Is this a great documentary? No. Is it an amazing feat by a high school student? Yes. This is a terrific warning from New Zealand about the possibility of legalised euthanasia. Will it happen in a Western democracy? Probably not. But why not in ...

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Imagining a future with compulsory euthanasia - MercatorNet