Legalising assisted dying option, do you support it?

[ForTheSakeOfThePenguin]

Hi,

I just realised there is a group advocating for the option of assisted dying for the terminally ill in the UK.

I am not a member of the group but this is an option I would like to have if I ever come to the point of having an illness that has taken away my quality of life (and that of the people around me) with no hope for improvement.

I've just added my name to Dignity in Dying's public record of support for legalising assisted dying. If you agree, add your name - it only takes ten seconds: action.dignityindying.org.uk/page/107124/petition/1?utm_source=em_share

Thank you

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/canadas-assisted-dying-catastrophe-is-a-warning-to-britain/

It is not murder if someone agreed to it. Murder is a non consensual act. Maybe the time would be brought forward a bit, but if it has been consented to in sound mind, it is a person's free will. That is not murder

Would you want to be the doctor euthanising someone with dementia? someone who might have consented when they were of sound mind but now has no idea where or who they are or what's happening to them? or be the relative agreeing that now's the right time to implement that wish?

Yes I do We put animals to sleep to save them suffering
If there's no quality of life and the end is coming, why can't someone choose to end their pain and suffering?

As someone pointed out upthread, animals tend not to have money and property to leave and for relatives to fight over and covet. And in a lot of cases, even doctors have difficulty predicting when the end is coming. My mother was given between 12 weeks and 18 months.

I am comfortable with the idea of helping that person, yes I could be that doctor. And yes, I would be happy to be the relative agreeing although sad for my loved one. Like I would be of I was consenting to organ donation I imagine. It is much more preferable than what I have seen.

Declining to treat infections is part of either the patient not consenting to the treatment after discussion or a best interest decision being made or them not being felt medically appropriate as treatment would simply prolong dying.

No one is being given larger doses of morphine than is medically appropriate and if you know that is happening you should report it as it is illegal.

Are you a qualified doctor and if so what area do you practice in?

If that poster is 'comfortable' with euthanising someone with dementia, I really hope they aren't a doctor, or any form of medical professional dealing with sick people.

Not a doctor, just answering the question. I don't see it as different than a vet euthanising animals.

My Mum first refused any rehab, she then refused food & eventually water, in the opinion of the medics caring for her, she wanted to die, as a former nurse, she knew there was no coming back from her stroke and knew once she stopped fluids, death would follow.

Because of the law, it took a long time for her to die, she basically shrivelled up to nothing.

I'm not really sure how anyone can defend that way of dying, it was awful and totally inhumane.

Fully support it.

Absolutely 100% Yes. We don’t let dogs suffer agonising prolonged deaths.

It's not about relatives coveting possessions or property!
The patient should have the choice when they feel they cannot bear the pain and whilst having capacity to consent
I watched my father rapidly decline into literal skin and bones into unconsciousness from Cancer dying within 9 weeks
Those 9 weeks were a " living hell" for him
What's the point of keeping someone alive if THEY want to die?

With all respect unless you are actually medically qualified I don’t think you can possibly say you would be comfortable with the realities of performing AD.

No one is ‘keeping dying patients alive’.

Dying is a process that can be supported and symptoms managed but it is a process that will take the time it takes. Society struggles with that. Nor are we properly finding the services that can make the dying process as well managed as it can be. It is very sad that the response is not to argue for better care but to argue for early death.

I am just answering a question I was asked about my thoughts.

Yep! After watching my father die for weeks and him begging me to 'shoot him', I definitely agree with assisted dying.

Possibly. Or at least guaranteed access to decent palliative care so that everyone can die a peaceful, pain free and dignified death. Sadly, relatively few terminally ill patients are able to access hospices and similar services, and have to die frightened and in pain which is shit.

If you want to die that’s your right, it’s called suicide. It is no one’s right to put someone/anyone in the spotlight of helping you do it. That’s not assisted death, it’s murder, whether the person asked you to help or not.

Why did you not help him to die then? Or is that someone else’s job. I can’t wait to see if this is allowed and to see who volunteers to do this ‘assisted death’. No one should die in pain, your fathers doctors should have seen to that, so that’s a big mistake on their part. I can understand your anger at that.

@MsCatherine , the trouble with dementia, is that by the time it’s obvious enough to be diagnosed, you will very likely forget that you’ve got it* and be unable to accept it if reminded - because at any given moment you can’t remember that you can’t remember anything, and in your head you’re still entirely capable of everything you used to do.

I’ve often read of people saying they’d take this or that action if they ever got dementia, but who seem quite unaware of the practical realities of the disease.

*My DM was told quite early on by her GP, and did apparently accept it, but had completely forgotten by the time she got home 15 minutes later, and and would angrily deny it if anyone tried to remind her. (We soon stopped, no point.) When we later needed to activate her old style power of attorney, there was nothing wrong with her - we were fiends who were just after her money! 🙁

One of the reasons I left nursing was because the palliative care was so badly managed and I didn't have the power to change anything so I had to walk away as it was traumatising me. Dosages of pain relief have steadily been reduced due to Shipman and no doctor wants a body on their hands even if that patient is terminally ill. They drag every last breath out of you as long as it means keeping their hands clean.

Like everything else in this rubbish country, palliative care is mediocre and underfunded. If people honestly believe that the ethical issues in assisted dying are riskier than having to face the prospect of palliative care here then they're in for a shock when the time comes.

This happened to my MIL too. She refuses food and water after her stroke and basically starved herself to death.

My father's GP refused to see him for pretty much anything in the last few months of his life. We were constantly referred back to the palliative care team based 45 minutes away for even the simplest of things. They also refused to prescribe some drugs that made things bearable on the basis of 'long term damage and/or addictive properties'. A change of prescription meant a 90 minute round trip to collect a new script from the palliative team because they wouldn't email/the pharmacy wouldn't accept an email. Which also meant taking his drug chart for updating...but if I had his drug chart it meant the district nurses couldn't give him any medication.

He had MND. He was dying imminently, we all knew it - but the GP certainly didn't make it easy to care for him. Nor did the palliative team in all honesty. The best and most incredible people during those months were the district nursing team who were quite frankly worth 5 times what they were being paid.

I'm sorry that you've left nursing because of similar issues, but I promise the families you helped really appreciated everything you did for them.

Absolutely, I've worked in this area , patients have begged me to help them die.